Freshman Year
by fmb1278
Summary: Life of pain and sorrow has come to and end. Life is finally opening up for Annie, Katniss and Prim. Finally leaving foster car, the three girls can start their life and mend their broken hearts, sew their ripped souls, and heal their battered skin. Forming new friends and relationships, can help with the pain, but the nightmares will never leave her. Welcome to Chapman U.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story was originally based on me and my best friend Taylor's (Tayloormellark) lives and friendship. I made this story up with some help from her and changed it into a hunger games one. I tried changing the personalities as much as I can without changing the plot of this story. It was originally written with our personalities and we put the characters in where we thought fit. Also, there is a lot of cursing in this story, so I'm warning you now. I'm going to try and keep this story all in Annie's P.O.V. So here it goes. We hope you like it. **

**P.S. If we miss any changing of the names, here's the list of characters:**

**Marisa (Ris, Rissa, Roo) - Annie**

**Taylor (Tay) - Katniss**

**Ashley (Ash) - Prim**

**Dan - Finnick**

**Chris - Peeta**

**Thomas - Gale**

**Annie (the catcher) - Finch**

**Vanessa - Madge**

**Joe - Cato**

**Billy - Marvel**

**Lux - Johanna**

**Skylar - Cahsmere**

**Coach Suddor - Haymitch**

**Katelyn - Shelly**

**Natalie - Enobaria**

**Rob - Thresh**

**Sammy - Maysilee**

**Mandie - Clove**

**Heather - Rue**

**Alex - Alex**

**Jason - Brutus**

**Devyn - Glimmer**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games or any of the characters.**

**Chapter 1:**

My name is Annie Cresta. My parents and my older sister are dead. I have been in the foster care system since I was 13 years old, jumping from house to house. And I only have one person who could understand me. Her name is Katniss Everdeen. She has no parents too, but still has her younger sister named Primrose, everyone calls her Prim. They were in the system with me too. Even though I have known Prim as long as I've known Katniss, she's too much of a heavy sleeper to understand and know why I wake up screaming every night. Most people think I am quiet, which is quite true unless I'm with Katniss or Prim, or that I am just a gifted softball and volleyball player and a great photographer, and that's all there is to me. I try to make myself unnoticed and unattached to anyone, other than Katniss and Prim, because I can't lose anyone else that I love.

I met Katniss when we were 10 years old and both went to Madison Park Elementary school. We were in 5th grade when we were paired up together to make a dance for the Gym Show. That started our deep-rooted friendship. All through middle school and high school, we were best friends and were there for each other through thick and thin. We comforted each other when our parents died, and when our crushes broke our hearts or when we switched families again. Now as 18 year olds, who just graduated high school, we are now sharing an apartment together near our university in California with her younger sister. It's a miracle that Katniss and I both got accepted in Chapman University without having to pay a dime. We both got full scholarships for softball, and I only do volleyball for fun now. I'm studying photography on the side and she is studying journalism. This year is going to be great.

"Hey Ann, whatcha thinkin' about?" Katniss asks.

"Nothing really. I'm just excited for this year," I say while standing up to give her a hug. I'm so happy that we can finally take care of ourselves without having to deal with our foster parents.

"Can you do me a big favor for tonight?" Katniss says while hugging me back.

"Depends. As long as you don't make me kill a spider."

The last time she asked me for a favor; it was to kill a spider in Prim's room the other night. Prim told Katniss about the spider and she decided to tease me about it. It was a joke because she could kill it herself and wasn't scared of spiders like I am. I have arachnophobia, which is just a fancy word for being really afraid of spiders but those mother fuckers are scary. When you lose track of them, it's time for you to run.

"It has nothing to do with that." Katniss stated. I sighed in relief. It's kind of sad that an 18 year old is scared of spiders and will run screaming from them. "Can you watch Prim tonight? I have a date with Peeta and I don't want her doing some stupid shit while I'm gone. I love her but sometimes she doesn't think."

Prim forgets her key sometimes and has locked herself out on more than one occasion. Thank god we decided not to go out to eat after class and come home for lunch. A different time, she wanted to take a bath when she got engrossed in Once Upon A Time, and the tub over flowed, making the floor soaked. Guess who had to clean that up, me and Katniss. "Sure, I don't care. She's like my little sister, and we'll have a little Prim-and-Annie night in, and watch movies with movie theater butter popcorn."

"Thanks Ann."

"No prob, Kat. I just expect details." She smiles and plops down on the couch next to me and pulls out her phone to text Peeta Mellark, her boyfriend. He has crystal blue eyes with azure blue specs -Prim's exact words describing Peeta, not mine. She sorta has a crush on him- with shaggy blonde hair that falls in front of his eyes and is about 5'9". I had the talk with him way before their relationship started. I had said that if he ever hurt Katniss, I would castrate him and use my softball bat on his knees.

"Where's Cinnamon Buns taking you tonight?" I ask. Peeta's nickname came to be because he smells like cinnamon all the time and he has a great ass. I don't like him though, you can admire someone's ass with no strings attached. It sometimes gets lonely being single as an 18 year old when both your best friend and her little sister have boyfriends. It makes me feel a little left out, but I could never stand losing someone else that I love. In high school on my sophomore year, everything was still rough from my family's death two years ago. This stupid kid named Cato Henderson had made a bet with his friends to see if the quiet pitcher for their school softball team had done the deed with anyone before. Of course I didn't know the bet at the time so it hurt extra when we were "going out" for 5 months and I thought I loved him. So I'm done with losing people. But you should have seen Katniss when I told her the story as I was crying. She came after him with her bat leaving him with a black eye and broken cheekbone for a month and a concussion for two weeks.

"We're going to the docks for a picnic." Katniss said dreamily. She and Peeta had been going out for over a year now, and they were perfect for each other. Peeta mellows out her temper and her way for fights, and she gets him to do some crazy shit. She had once told me that she convinced him to make out with her upside-down because she thought it was cute in "The Amazing Spiderman". I had laughed and asked if it was better than normal kissing. She said it was weird and she didn't want to do it ever again.

"Cool." I smiled at her. It's great to see her happy.

After our 6th episode of Ghost Whisperer, I asked, "Kat, what time's your date?"

"It's at…" She stops as she looks at the time on her phone. "FUCK! He's picking me up in 30 minutes!"

I hear Katniss running down the hall and sliding on the woods floor as she reaches her room. I laugh at her _amazing_ time management skills. 25 minutes later Katniss walks back in the living room with her chocolate brown hair flowing down to her elbows in small waves and dressed in her favorite pair of dark blue denim jean shorts, with her all black converse, and an orange tank top that fades into red at the bottom, making her grey eyes pop against the bright colors. Of course Katniss is wearing Peeta's favorite colors.

"How do I look?" Katniss asks, making a ridiculous pose with a hand on her hip and the other on her head.

"Beautiful." A deep voice says behind me. Katniss's eyes light up as she runs past me and jumps into Peeta's arms. Katniss really loosened up about her "no relationship" policy with the help of Peeta. She refused to go out with anyone and never noticed the looks she always got in the hallways in high school. I used to overhear guys talking about how "fucking sexy" she is. Don't take that weirdly, I know she's pretty, but it's weird hearing that about your best friend and that she never noticed. Peeta and Katniss always look so happy together and I hate to break them up right now, but they've been sucking face for over a minute with Katniss still in his arms.

"Get a room." I say, successfully getting them to separate long enough for Katniss to roll her eyes at me. She kisses him one last time before getting out of his arms to give me a hug.

"Bye, Ann. BYE PRIM!" Kat yells as she walks out the door, leaving me and Prim alone for a few hours.

"HEY PRIM! IT'S JUST US NOW! TIME FOR POPCORN AND MOVIES!" I yell to Prim up the stairs. She comes running down holding a bag of popcorn ready to be popped and 21 Jump Street. This is going to be a good movie night.

"FUCK SCIENCE!" Channing Tatum yells.

"Haahaaa." Prim and I laugh. He is so hot.

The door opens and closes and Katniss comes in with a big grin on her face.

"How was your date?" Prim and I say at the same time. It's like we planned it.

"Good." Katniss says still smiling brightly.

"Details!" Prim squeals. I want to see what Katniss is going to say to Prim.

"Well," Katniss starts with an evil grin on her face now. "We got to the lake and we started hard core making out. Then we started getting it on and he started pulling at my shirt. So I took it off. And then I grabbed his hard long-"

"I'M LEAVING!" Prim yells sprinting to her room.

"HAAHAAA!" Katniss and I burst out laughing. I knew that she was lying. She just had that look in her eye so I knew it wasn't true. And she's a shitty liar.

"She's such a prude!" Kat wheezes.

I'm laughing so hard, I'm now snorting unattractively and I rolled right off the couch. "I knew that would make her leave." Katniss explains when we finally calm down. I get up off the floor and sit next to her on the couch.

"So, what actually happened?" I asked.

"Peeta brought me to the docks, and he packed cheese buns for us to share. And we were kissing for a while when he pulled out a little box. And in the little box was an infinity heart necklace! I love it! I love him!" She showed me her necklace, still on her neck. I don't think anyone can love each other as much as they do. I stifled a yawn with my hand and said, "It's beautiful, Kat. Peeta is great for you. I am exhausted. I'll talk to you in the morning, okay? Maybe we can go out for bagels for breakfast."

"That sounds good." Katniss smiled. I trudged up the stairs, and silently walked down the hallway. I shut my door softly behind me and flopped on my bed. My eyes closed immediately and I fell asleep quickly.

_"Annie, you did great at your volleyball game!" My mom said happily as I got in the back seat behind the passenger's seat. _

"_That was a great spike, little mermaid." My older sister Shelly said, giving me a high five. I loved to make her proud. Her opinion mattered the most to me. _

_She always called me little mermaid because when I was younger, I loved that movie and every Halloween I would dress up as Ariel and imagine swimming under the sea. It also helped that I swam very fast and was always in the water when I could after softball and volleyball. _

"_Yeah, Annie. That one was great. Now, time for softball. Just remember, Ann, concentrate on your release on this game and pitch as fast as you can. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it matters how hard you try and play." My dad said to me. I was changing out of my volleyball uniform and into my softball uniform. Having back to back volleyball and softball games always kept me busy but without them, I wouldn't know what to do with all of my time. I was just pulling on my last cleat when I heard the screech of the breaks and I heard a huge bang! My sister unbuckles her seatbelt and throws herself over me to protect me from the glass shattering. I felt an unbearable pain on the right side of my body. My vision was blurring around the edges and I smelt the sharp smell of blood. I notice my sister laying across me fully with the piece of glass that might have killed me, stuck in her neck instead. Her bright red hair is splayed across me with her brown eyes stuck open. I try to lift my right arm and I almost black out from the pain. Instead, I lift my shaking left hand to check for a pulse. Nothing. I limp/crawl into the front seat to see blood pouring out the side of my dad's head, his brown hair covered in blood, his blue-green eyes lifeless. I turn my head to the passenger's seat to see my mom with her neck bent at a funny angle, her brown eyes covered by her red-brown hair. I pull myself out of my car slowly, the excruciating pain blinding me. My eyes focus slowly on the girl staring back at me in the broken mirror. Her red-brown hair is everywhere, not up in the hair tie she had it in at her volleyball game, her emerald green eyes unfocused and showing pain. This girl's once clear, tan face is covered in her own and her family's blood. Her temple is bleeding heavily, and her shoulder is purple. Her right wrist is floppy and her right elbow is bent at an awkward angle. Lastly, my eyes look at her legs. They are bruised everywhere and her right ankle is two times its normal size. I finally recognize this girl through my painful haze. That girl is me. I start crying and screaming. My family is gone. All I've ever known is gone. My mom, dead. My dad, dead. My sister, dead. I start screaming at the top of my lungs. I hear them talking to me. _

"_Annabeth, why did you have to play two sports? You just killed us by wanting to do both volleyball and softball. You are selfish for making us drive you to all your games." My dad says angrily._

"_Annabeth, why are you crying? We are dead. You aren't." My mom said annoyed._

_I start crying even more._

"_Annie, you are a shitty sister. You killed us. I fucking hate you." Shelly yelled._

"AHHHHHHHHHH! It's not my fault! It's not my fault! I'm sorry!" I cried. I doubled over crying and gasping for air. My throat feels raw so I guess I've been screaming for a while.

"It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not my fault." I mumbled over and over, pulling my knees up to my chest and rocking back and forth, silently crying. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm a bad sister. I'm fucking selfish." I say with their voices ringing through my head. I pull my hands up and clamp them over my ears, trying to block out the voices of my dead family. I don't know what's they said was real. What did my mind make up? Did I kill them? Am I selfish? Am I a bad sister? I don't know. Their voices are getting louder so I push my hands harder against my ears. Maybe that's why I didn't ever stay at one house when I was in foster care. Maybe that's why no one wanted me, a selfish 13 year old softball and volleyball player who killed her family. Who would want that as their kid? Who would want to have someone who was so fucking selfish, that she killed her family. Breathing started to become hard. Shallow breathes with hard sobs racked my body.

"Shhhh. Annie, it's okay. You didn't kill them. It's not your fault. You're fine. You aren't selfish. Shhhh, Ann, please stop crying. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault." Katniss hushed me. She pulled on the hands covering my ears and I let them fall to my lap. I sniffed loudly and wiped the tears from my face.

"Sorry, Kat. I didn't mean to wake you up." I mumbled, embarrassed from my crying.

"It's okay, Annie. This is what friends are for." Katniss said softly. She gave me a comforting hug and left to go back to sleep. I lied back down realizing that I'm not getting any more sleep tonight. I stayed motionless in my bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the sun to rise so I could start my daily workout. I know that I don't have to wait for Katniss to start my running. I do mine in the morning, and she does hers at night. I have to stay in shape and keep up my pitching if I want to play this spring. I pull on my black short shorts, put on a sports bra, and shrug on my grey Chapman University Softball sweatshirt. It has my positions, pitcher and center field, on the right arm, my number, 11, on the back with my last name above it, and the school symbol on the chest. I put in my headphones, and put on my workout playlist. Thrift Shop by Macklemore is on. I stretch out my legs before I start walking down the block. I pick up my pace after a few minutes and now I'm in a jog. The cool September air is starting to warm up already by the time I make it down my street. I push myself into a run, then a sprint, and lose myself in my music. I can't believe I woke up Katniss this morning. I usually wake myself up and calm my sobs down by listening to music and going on my morning jog. My eyes start to water from the wind blowing in my face and I run straight into a solid body, running as well. A boy looking my age, heavily falls on me and my back is pressed into the cement. I was about to flip out and yell at whoever fell on me but when I open my eyes and I'm met with clear ocean green eyes staring into mine. I couldn't yell at him for some reason. His eyes widen when he realizes how close our faces are and he's still on me. He pulls himself up and offers a hand to help me up.

"Sorry. I was on my usual morning jog before having to go to the courts for shooting some hoops before class, and I didn't see you there. I didn't mean to knock you down." He says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's alright." I say, turning off my music. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Fixing my sweatshirt, I realize he clears 6 feet and has to be about 5 inches taller than me, and I'm 5'7". He has a broad chest and muscular arms that aren't too big, they're just right. He makes eyes contact with me, ocean burning into emerald.

"My name is Finnick Odair." He says smiling, sticking out his hand.

"I'm Annie Cresta." I say quietly, shaking his hand.

"Where are you running?" Finnick asks, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his basketball shorts.

"Just doing my normal run. I do this every morning as a part of my workout." I say.

"Do you play softball?" Finnick asks, running his hand his caramel bronze hair that's flipped up in the front. I raise an eyebrow. "You just look like a softball player by the way you were running; and it helps that you are wearing a Chapman University Girls Softball sweatshirt."

"Oh, yeah. I do." I look down, remembering that I'm wearing this sweatshirt. "Who do you play basketball for?"

"Chapman. It's my first year." He says smiling, showing his white, straight teeth.

"Mine, too." I say, noticing his university t-shirt. "Okay, well I have to go. I'll see you around campus. Bye Finnick."

"Bye Annie." He says. We both turn around start our jogs again.

I get to the apartment, sticky with sweat and I pour myself a glass of ice cold water. It feels great in my parched mouth and I sadly finish. Whatever, I have to shower and I bet I smell. I turn on the water and wait for it to heat up. I try to shoot my clothes into the hamper and I miss horribly. I pick them up and throw them in. That's why I play softball, not basketball. I step into the steaming shower and let the muscles in my body loosen. I wash my hair and body, and come out smelling like sweet peas.

I pull on my black jean shorts and a purple flowery lace shirt with a white bandeau and shove my phone in my back pocket as I slip on my black flip flops. I walk into the kitchen to see Katniss in white shorts with a black tank top and her infinity heart necklace on, making hot apple cider. Katniss with her hot apple cider is like me with my coffee. I walk up silently behind her and poke her back. She screams and drops to the floor and I laugh. That never gets old. Katniss picks herself up and gives me her famous Katniss-glare, and finishes making her apple cider. I step around her and grab a travel coffee mug from the cabinet. I fill it ¾ full with coffee and pour milk in it, filling it to the top, and watching it turn a caramel color. I grab the sugar and pour six spoonfuls in and stir it.

"Ready for bagels?" I ask, having a sip of my coffee.

"Yup." She says popping the "p".

"Do you want Prim to come with us?" I have a feeling I already know the answer.

"No. But we should let her know that we are leaving. I want her to sleep in as long as she can since school isn't starting for her yet." Katniss says, pouring hot apple cider into a travel cup. Prim is lucky, high school starts tomorrow for her.

I looked at the clock above the stove and it read 9:32 am. Our first class starts at 11. "Okay. We should go to bagel boy on Beach Street." One of the perks of having this apartment is that it's only two blocks from the beach. I grab my car keys while Katniss leaves a note for Prim. We climb into my black jeep and drive to the bagel place. Katniss turns on the radio and when she hears Mercy, she blasts the music.

"Lamborghini mercy, yo your chick's so thirsty. I'm in that two seat lambo with your girl, she tries to jerk me. Lamborghini mercy, yo your chick's so thristy. I'm in that two seat lambo with your girl, she tries to jerk me." Kat screams.

"Okay, drop it to floor make that ass shake. Woah, make the ground move that's an ass quake. Build a house up on that ass, that's an ass state. R-roll my weed on it, that's an ass tray." I rap as I pull into the parking lot. I pull the keys out of ignition, and climb out of the car.

"Welcome to Bagel Boy, how may I help you?" A girl with the nametag saying KELLY asks.

"I'll have a cinnamon raison bagel with cream cheese." I say.

"And I'll have a plain bagel with cream cheese." Katniss says.

"Is that it?" Kelly asks already making our bagels. I nod my head. "That will be $9.42."

Katniss and I pay for our bagels and take a seat at one of the empty stools. I take a bite of my bagel and I think back to when I used to eat these with my sister. No Annie, stay in the present, I tell myself.

"Ann, how was your jog this morning?" Katniss asks taking a huge bite of her bagel.

"Good. I ran into some guy our age. We were both running and we crashed into each other." I said taking a little bite.

"Did you guys hurt each other? Do you know him? Do I know him?" Katniss asks with her mouth full. Kat and her eating habits.

"Umm, I don't know. I just met him today and he said his name was Finnick Odair." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Oh, I know him." Katniss smiles, "Peeta needed a roommate to help him pay the rent, and Finnick needed a place to live. We will be seeing a lot of him 'cause Finn is going to Chapman with us and Peeta."

"Okay." I said stuffing the rest of my bagel in my mouth. "We should get going. It's 10:41 and we need to get to campus." I never said I ate very lady-like either.

We throw out our garbage and we get in the car. "I hate commercials." I say after 5 minutes of constant commercials, no music.

"Same." Katniss changes the station and we start singing to Titanium.

We get our schedules from the guidance counselor whose dressed in bright clothes. "Here's your schedule, girls." She screeched in a high voice with an accent.

We looked at our schedules and we only have Geography and English together. Today I have Enriched Math first (I skipped a math grade), and Photography courses second when Katniss has Journalism then Math. Tomorrow, we have Geography and English together. Every day after all of our classes is over, we have to go to our softball practice, and then we are free! I give Katniss a hug goodbye and make my way to the Math Hall. I stop in front of room 108, the room on my schedule. I make my way inside and show my schedule to Professor Smith. He smiles and tells me to take a seat. I walk to the back of the room and take a seat, and I look at the other students in the room.

Shit! I'm in the fucking nerd class. Everyone has their faces in their textbooks or doing weird shit, when the bell didn't even ring yet, joy. I pull out my phone and text Katniss.

**Me: Hey how's Journalism**

**Katniss: It's good, Peeta is in this class with me. I checked his schedule and he's in all the same classes as me!**

**Me: That's good. My fucking math class is full of nerds. Fml.**

**Katniss: That's cuz you're a nerd, too. Jkjk. But that's what you get for being fucking smart and skipping a math grade. **

**Me: Fine, if I'm going to be a nerd, at least I'd be a hot one :P**

**Katniss: Haha :)**

"You know, Annie. Using your phone during class makes you a bad girl." I look up to see Finnick standing in front of me with a mock-serious look on his face. I stick my tongue out and him and looked back down at my phone. He winks at me and sits down in the desk next to mine.

**Me: Finn's in my math class!**

**Katniss: Yay! Now go see if he's in your other classes.**

**Me: Okay**

"Gimme your schedule" I say to Finnick who is on his phone. I use his words from before. "You know, Finn. Using your phone during class makes you a bad boy."

He sticks out his tongue and says, "So I've heard. And no. Not until you say the magic word."

"You're fucking retarded. Just give it to me." He gives me a look. "Fine. Pretty pretty please with sugar on top?"

Finnick just rolls his eyes at me and says, "The magic word was lotion, but I'll give it to you just because you added sugar." I laugh and look at his paper.

"We're in all the same classes," I said, smiling. He smiled back and looked at the teacher who was giving directions.

**Me: Finnick's in all my classes!**

**Katniss: Someone's excited ;)**

**Me: Shut up. Anyway, I got to go. The teacher is writing shit down on the board and it looks important. Bye.**

**Katniss: Bye.**

I put my phone back in my pocket and I see a note on my desk.

_Tsk, tsk. You're a more bad girl for not paying attention. –F.O._

_Haahaaa funny. –A.C. _ I write back. I toss it on his desk and pretend to be paying attention to the Professor. I hear the slide of paper and I see what Finnick wrote back.

_Since you're not paying attention, I shouldn't either. –F.O._

_Shit, now who am I going to get the notes from. –A.C._

_I don't know. Not my problem. Maybe ask the girl to your left. –F.O._

I look to the left and see the girl he was talking about. She's not paying attention either because she's too busy doodling. She has long, greasy looking hair and is chewing on the ends. She rips off a corner of her notebook page and puts it in her mouth.

…_.. Hell no. That's fucking gross and she's not paying attention either! Even if she was, she'd eat all my notes as I copy them. -A.C._

I toss the note at Finn's head and he laughs at my response. For the rest of math, we sit there, passing notes and laughing. The bell rings and I pack up my stuff. Finnick walks with me to our photography class. We get our cameras today and get to go outside to take pictures of nature.

"Annie!" Finnick yells from right behind me. I turn around quickly, having my hair fly around into my face. I heard a little click of his camera.

"What? You scared the shit out of me. And I was concentrating." I say, with my hand on my chest, calming my fast beating heart. I tend to ignore people when I'm taking pictures.

"I wanted to take a picture of you." He shows me his camera and I see me with my hair flowing around me from when I turned around. The lighting and shot was perfect, and I was able to see the birds flying high above my head and the sun rays shimmering through the clouds. It's a beautiful scene.

"It's a great picture," I say handing his camera back to him. We walk around outside for a while, taking pictures of squirrels eating acorns and the grass and flowers swaying in the breeze.

Finn and I pack up our books and cameras and walk to the gym together when the bell rings.

"I'll see you tomorrow, bye." Finnick says walking into the boy's locker room.

"Bye." I say turning into the girl's locker room. I see Katniss sitting on the bench next to her locker. Our softball lockers have our numbers on it. Mine is 11 and hers is 12. Yay, we're right next to each other. I pull my softball uniform from my backpack and put it in my locker; and I put on softball socks, sliders, practice shorts, and my university shirt.

"Hey Kat." I say, dropping my softball bag on the floor and putting pictures on the inside of my locker door. I have one of Katniss, Prim, and me hugging on my birthday, July 8th, and one of me and my family. I have others but this one is my favorite and we are all smiling brightly in this. I was 13 and Shelly was 15 in the picture, and we were sitting on the floor petting our German shepherd, Mimi, with mom and dad smiling behind us. When they died and I went in foster care, they put my dog in the pound. I couldn't keep her because some people were allergic. When Katniss, Prim and I got our apartment when Taylor turned 18 on January 2nd, I checked the pound to see about getting my dog back, but they said that they put her in a dog fight and she died.

"Hey Ann, how were your classes?" Taylor says, tying her cleats.

"Good, me and Finn were passing notes during math, and he took a picture of me during Photography. It was a great picture." I say remembering the shot, his eyes shining when he showed me.

Taylor smiles at me, "He so likes you." What? Where did that come from? He can't like me like that. We just met and I'm me! I can't see anyone liking me like that. But I have to admit, he is hot. And he's so easy to talk to and he's sweet, too. I could see myself liking him. No, Annie. I reprimand myself. I can't like anyone like that, not after what happened with Cato.

"He doesn't. Finnick's just my friend." I say, pulling my softball bag onto my shoulder.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself to go to sleep at night. But he so does. Then why would he take a picture of you?" Kat asks. She does have a point there. Why did he take a picture of me?

"Cuz I'm hawt." I say striking a ridiculous pose. Katniss laughs and closes her locker.

"Let's go to practice."

During softball practice, we did outfield practice, batting practice, grounder and pop-up drills, and I even got to pitch a little bit. We met the team and most seemed really nice. Johanna Mason, the shortstop, doesn't let any ball go pass her and is very sarcastic. Glimmer Johnson, the back-up pitcher and first baseman seemed like a bitch and gave me attitude. I guess she was pissed since she wasn't the main pitcher and I was. Clove Williams and Cashmere Smith, Glimmer's catcher/second basemen and the third basemen, were complete bitches too, and clearly did whatever Glimmer told them to. Finch Martinez, who was going to be the main catcher, and catch for mostly me, was amazing and could catch anything I threw at her. I think her, Johanna, Taylor, and I are going to be great friends. Maysilee Donner, who is the main center fielder, can play first when Glimmer is pitching, and I'm playing center. Maysilee is an all-around softball player and can play any position good (other than pitcher and catcher), and is best at first and center. Lastly, Madge Undersee is the right fielder and is the fastest runner right behind Katniss and me. I saw the coach smile when I dove and caught the falling pop-up, that was a few feet ahead of me, and threw it hard to second base from deep center field; and when Katniss jumped on the back fence in left field, and caught the almost-home-run-hit. Once practice was over, the whole team took showers in the locker room before leaving. Well, the whole team except for Glimmer, Clove, and Cashmere who said the showers were grimy. I have a feeling they are going to start shit with people. Katniss and I drove home, ate dinner with Prim, and went right to bed, tired from softball practice.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So here's chapter two! Sorry for any grammar mistakes and any forgotten name changes. My beta (tayloormellark) is great with double checking my story for anything messed up.** ** This is my first story so please no mean reviews. So here goes chapter two.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the hunger games.**

**Chapter 2:**

The next few months went by in a blur. Finnick and I became close friends, and he comes with Katniss, Peeta, and I when we go out for lunch every day between classes. Also, we all formed our own little group. It includes us four, Johanna, Finch, Thom, whose on the basketball team with Finnick, and Thresh, whose on the baseball team with Peeta. His real name is John, but he hates it so everyone calls him by his last name. Finn and I text each other a lot and talk or pass notes during class. I went to a few of his basketball games and he's really good. We always walk to the locker rooms together; and after his basketball practice and Peeta's baseball practice, they wait outside our locker room to talk to Katniss and me. The four of us usually go to each other's apartments after practice to do homework. I've seen Katniss and Peeta get yelled at many times in the hallways for showing too much PDA, and Finnick and I laugh when their faces get red. At the start of Christmas break, Peeta, Katniss and I comforted Prim when her boyfriend br0ke up with her through a text. Her best friend Rue came over and we all watched movies and ate ice cream trying to keep Prim's mind off the break up. Katniss and I were going to go to his house and beat his head in with our softball bats but Prim convinced us not to. She is just a good person like that. For Katniss's 19th birthday, we took her to the spot where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado meet together. It was a long road trip, but Katniss has always wanted to go there and be in four different places at once. We arrived there on January 2nd, her birthday, and that got crossed off on her bucket list. We also went camping when we got back. On February 3rd, Finn's birthday, we took him to a Giants game which is his favorite football team. The Giants are my favorite too. We all huddled together for warmth as the Giants kicked the Packers asses. For Peeta's birthday, February 20th, Katniss, Finnick, and I planned a surprise party for him. Everyone was hiding in his apartment when Katniss brought him home after their date. He didn't suspect a thing. Later that night, when it was only our group left, Peeta went to bed with Katniss and we heard some… noises. Finnick banged on the door and told them to keep their "birthday sex" down. Finnick, being himself, teased Katniss of how vocal she was for the next few days. She would always turn beet red and punch him in his bicep. And Katniss being Katniss, it wasn't lightly. They are all 19 now, and me being the summer baby I am, I'm still 18. Katniss keeps telling me that I like Finnick and he likes me, and that we're secretly going out. She'd always say it after I'd laugh at Finnick's antics. We aren't going out and I don't think I like him like that even though he gives me butterflies at times but it's Finnick! He's my best guy friend and I wouldn't want to mess that up. And anyway, I don't want to go out with someone just to have my heart broken again. Before I knew it, spring was here and the softball season started. Our first game is this Friday!

I wake up Friday morning, feeling refreshed. Last night's nightmare wasn't that bad. Actually it wasn't even too much of a nightmare. I just woke up scared, but I don't even remember the dream, so it's okay. I'm so excited for the game today. The Chapman Crushers are playing the Sacramento Sluggers. I jump out of bed, and throw on a pair of Nike spandex shorts and my softball sweatshirt. I lace up my sneakers and leave the house for my run. I meet Finnick at the corner of Perdue and Princeton and give him a hug.

"Hey Annie, mornin'." Finnick says hugging me.

"Morning, Finn." We separate and start our long jog together. It's a silent one, but it's not uncomfortable. We jog all the way to the beach, winding through the early morning streets, and jog through empty alleys. We end our jog where we always do, at the basketball courts. Finnick grabs one of the basketballs and tosses it to me. I shoot and miss like always. I grab the ball from rebound and bounce it to him. He shoots it and it goes in from half-court, he runs up to catch the rebound and dunks it, hanging on the rim. He is amazing. He bounces the ball over to me. I shoot and it hits the rim, bouncing in a complete different direction.

"Shit." I mumble.

Finnick laughs and runs to the ball. He grabs it and walk towards me. "Here, let me show you how."

"Okay." He steps behind me and putting the ball in my hands. My back is against his muscled chest, and I lean into it. I can feel his abs through his shirt. His warm hands go over mine, making my stomach flutter, and shoots the ball. It bounces on the square and goes right in.

"That's how you do it." Finn says smiling.

"Thanks." I smiled back. I check the time on my phone. "We have to go. I still need to get ready for class."

"Okay. Let's go then." He says following me off the courts.

We separate at the corner, and I walk home. I shower and change into my faded jean shorts and a pink tank top. I tie my black converse and go to the kitchen. On the table, next to my coffee, is a note.

_Annie,_

_I'm at Peeta and Finnick's apartment. Come over when you're ready._

_Katniss_

I drink my coffee and grab my Geography and English books. I finish my coffee quickly and I run up the stairs to wake Prim up for school, and then walk out the door. I walk down the street and turn the corner onto Sandy Street, stopping dead in my tracks. Fuck! It's Glimmer, with Clove and Cashmere, walking with the football pricks, Brutus Macanally, Marvel Dewey, and Cato Henderson. FUCK! CATO HENDERSON!

"Hey, Cato. Isn't that the loser pitcher you dated during high school?" Marvel says using air quotes on "dated". Glimmer, Clove, and Cashmere snickered. Those fucking bitches.

"What's her name? Annie Crasti?" Brutus asks them. It's fucking Cresta, dumbass.

"Oh yeah, that is her." Cato smiles cockily, putting an arm around Glimmer's shoulder. She giggles, then blushes. Faggot. "Hey Bitch!"

Don't turn around, Annie don't turn around. Keep walking. Don't do anything. Just keep walking to apartment building number 16. I'm at 15 right now. I see it right there. Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick are waiting outside on the front steps, and I think they see me. Katniss has a worried look on her face and stands up to walk over to me. Peeta says something to her and she begrudgingly sits back down. Katniss and Peeta have frowns etched into their faces while Finnick's smile drops off his face noticing their frowns.

"ANNIE, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Cato yells from a few feet behind me. I turn around staring into Cato's icy blue eyes, that have a cold quality to them. His blonde hair, which has to be a few shades lighter than Peeta's, stands in spikes on the top of his head.

"What the fuck do you want Cato." I say angrily.

"Nothing, just saying hi." He says playing with my hair.

"Don't fucking touch me." I say through clenched teeth, stepping back.

"In high school, you wanted me to." Cato says smiling evilly.

"Worst fucking 5 months of my life."

"Really?" He questions jokingly. "I thought you loved -"

"Shut the fuck up, Cato," I snarl.

"I think I struck a nerve there." I just try to ignore him. I turn around and start towards my friends. Katniss is starting to bite her nails. I'm just about 100 yards from them when Cato says mockingly a few feet behind me, "Leaving already, little mermaid." No one ever called me little mermaid other than my sister. I never let anyone call me that anymore. It's too painful. I guess he sees the pain in my eyes when I turn around, because this breaks me.

"Haven't heard that nickname in a while, huh? Well, little mermaid, too bad the only person who called you that was your dead sister. I mean really, why in gods fuck would she kill herself saving you from the car crash you cau-" I don't let him finish. If he did, I would probably be crying on the floor right now. He knows my weaknesses and was trying to use them against me. But no. I punched him in the face, bringing it to the side. I knee him in the balls and jump on top of him as he falls to the cement. I pin his arms down with my legs as I sit on his chest, and punch him again and again in the face. I guess none of his friends suspected this from me because they are doing nothing. His face is bloody, and my knuckles are starting to bleed even though I don't feel it. I'm full of adrenaline and I'm pissed that he brought up my dead sister. I slam my palm into his nose, hearing a satisfying crack as I'm lifted up like I weigh nothing, and put over someone' shoulder.

"PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN!" I scream pounding onto this person's back.

"Shhhh. Ann, calm down. It's over. You won. Just calm down. I'm gonna have bruises by tomorrow." Finnick says in a soothing voice, trying to joke as he puts me on his porch next to Katniss. I look at Cato finally pulling himself off the sidewalk and glaring at me while holding his crotch. Good. That stupid son of a bitch. His face is all bloody and I think I broke his nose because it's not straight anymore. I dig my nails into my palms, breathing heavily. I give Cato my deadliest look, and I breathe deeply, trying to forget what he said about my sister. I tense all my muscles and clench my jaw until my teeth hurt. Finnick softly grabs my chin and tilting my face to him, making me make eye contact. "Calm down. It's okay. You're okay now." I breathe out slowly and all the anger and tension exits my body, leaving pain in its place. I stare off into space as Katniss looks at him amazed. I think she remembers the time I punched a hole in the wall at foster care when I came back from the therapy they made me go to. I was so angry and pissed from making me talk out my "problems" that I was screaming into my pillow and almost punched the wall again while she tried to calm me down. It took about an hour for all of the frustration to disappear, then I had just stared at the wall. Finnick guides me inside the apartment as the pricks and those traitor bitches leave with Cato still holding himself. I guess I'm a great knee-er. He sits me on the kitchen counter while Katniss gets something to clean my hands off with. Finnick stays with me the whole time rubbing out the knots in my back from my encounter with Cato. I sit unresponsive as I see my older sister brush my hair through the mirror and she calls me her little mermaid. A few tears escapes my eyes. I feel Finnick's hands still rubbing my back as Katniss cleans the blood off my knuckles. My eyes focus on the clock above the fridge. It reads 9:57. I feel exhausted from that whole situation and trying to keep my anger in check. It didn't work very well but still. I think I've earned a nap from breaking Cato's nose. Katniss finish up on my hands and says, "That was great, Annie. I thought he was gonna pass out when you knee-ed him."

I smile proudly through my tears. She gives me a hug and laughs when Peeta says, "I sure don't wanna get on your bad side." He gives me a hug when Katniss lets go. Peeta wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her into his side. Katniss smiles at him and gives him a kiss on his cheek. Finnick gives me a hug last, and whispers in my ear, "I wouldn't have pulled you off him if he didn't look like he was about to black out from the beating you were giving him."

I smile again and hug him back. "Okay, I'm gonna take a nap. I'm exhausted. Wake me up at 10:30 if I'm not up yet." I say, yawning. Katniss helps me into the living room and tosses me a pillow as I lay down on the couch. I pull on the throw-blanket on the back of the couch and close my eyes. I'm about to slip into the dark when I hear Finnick, Peeta, and Katniss's voice.

"What you did was fucking amazing. How the hell did you calm her down so fast?" Katniss says with her mouth full. I can picture her sitting on the counter, eating a banana, with Peeta's hand on her knee, who's leaning against the counter, with Finn sitting on the chair backwards putting his arms on the back of the chair. "Like the last time she was that pissed was when Prim was crying about her boyfriend breaking up with her. We both wanted to smash his head in, but Annie looked like she was gonna lose it. She looked like she did in high school when Cato did that to her."

"Did what?" Finnick asks.

Katniss tells Finn about it, telling that my family died in a car crash and that I was in the car too, then says, "-and she had that defeated look in her eyes with Prim, then instead of getting teary eyed, she got pissed." I bet she's remembering how I was screaming at Cato when I found out, and then I broke down crying later telling her about it.

"Yeah." Peeta says, probably running his hand across Katniss's leg. "I was with them when Prim was crying, and Prim is like her little sister and they are her only family now. And Ann is really protective over her family, she doesn't like watching them or anyone in pain. She'd rather take the pain then watching one of them be. I remember hearing her cry in her room with Katniss when Prim was asleep," Fuck, he heard that. So much for going in my room. "And Kat was calming her down once her anger went away which was 'bout 30 minutes or so. I guess she was remembering what had happened to her so she started crying from that. It's a built up thing for Annie. She usually never cries a lot, but one big thing over another and she'll be bawling. Same with her being angry. That usually takes longer to calm her down from."

I know I should be upset or even worried about them telling Finnick this stuff but I'm not. I was going to tell him soon. At least I don't have to figure how to now. Katniss then said, "The weird thing is that she calmed down so quickly with you."

That is true. Why did I calm down so fast from Finnick? One look in those green eyes and all the anger disappeared. I can't stay awake for the rest of their conversation because the dark tendrils of sleep were already pulling me under.

"_Annie, how do you feel about that?" The therapist asked me._

"_How the fuck do you think I feel? I was in the fucking car when they died. And I'm the one who killed them. How would you fucking feel?" I say angrily. This was pointless._

_The foster care director gasped, and squeaked trying to sound stern, "Annie, watch your language and be respectful."_

"_Don't fucking tell me what to do!" I yell back, standing up in my chair. "Kill your family at the age of 13 and live with that. Yeah, go through what I'm going through, and then fucking talk to me! Fucking bitch." I mumble the last part._

"_What did you call me?" She screeched._

"_I called you a fucking bitch." She gives me an angry stare. "Fuck this." I walk out the room and slam the door._

I roll over on the couch and pull the blanket closer to me.

"_Little mermaid, you have to brush out your hair better." Shelly looks at me through the mirror._

_"Why?" I smile up at her. "Why would I when I have you to do it for me, Shell."_

_She tugs a knot out of my chlorine filled hair. I had just got out of the pool for lunch, with my hair dripping wet. I got one piece of my hair knot-free before my arms got tired. So my next logical decision, was for my sister to do it for me._

_"You're lucky I love you, Ann." Shelly says smiling, finishing up my hair._

_"How could you not love me?" I say, crossing my eyes, raising my eyebrows, curling my lips up against my teeth, and pushing my head back, forming a double chin. Everything adding together to make my traditional weird face._

_"I can think of a few reasons…" Shell says sarcastically. I whip around and smack her playfully on the arm._

I wake up with a small smile on my face. I sit up and fold up the blanket as Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick walk in the room.

"Hey you're up." Peeta says. I bet he was prepared to wake me up. The last time he did I punched him in the stomach. It was kind of a natural reaction and I still feel bad about that.

"Yup." I say running my fingers through my hair.

"Let's go to school." Katniss says grabbing Peeta's hand.

This day couldn't go any slower. In geography, it's Katniss and me sitting next to each other in partners desks with Finn and Cinnamon Buns in front of us as partners. I'm good at this class and since Kat's not, I'm doing all the work. We go out to lunch to Panera bread. I get the cheddar potato soup in a bread bowl. It was amazing. We all talked and laughed loudly, making everyone stare at us. Finnick said it was because they don't have funny friends to laugh at. Walking to English, Peeta and Katniss had their hands in each other's back pockets. Waiting for the professor to come in, they were making out (again), and Finnick and I laughed because Professor Huff was standing behind them, trying to get them to pay attention. Finn sat behind me and Katniss was to my right, with Peeta was behind Katniss. I got Katniss to write my essay for me because, 1. I don't want to be a writer. 2. It's fucking hard. And 3. I did her work in Geography.

Finally, class was over and our game is next. Finnick and Peeta walk us to me and Katniss's locker room. They don't have any practice today so they are going to be at our game.

"Good luck." Finnick says hugging me.

"Thanks." I hug him back. I look over to Katniss and Peeta kissing each other deeply. They always are kissing and I hate to break them up again, but we have to get ready.

"Come on, Kat." I say as Finnick says, "Let's go man." They separate after one last kiss, and Katniss and I go in the locker room. I pull on my uniform quickly and do my hair. I flip my hair back over and I look in my mirror. I see Glimmer giving me a look. If looks could kill. I throw my bag over my shoulder and wait for Katniss to finish tying her cleats.

"I'm so excited for the game." Katniss says, twisting her hair into a braid down the center of her back.

"Me, too. But I'm a little nervous." I say playing with the strap on my bag.

"Ann, you'll do fine. You're the best pitcher I know." Katniss says reassuringly.

"Annie, come here." Coach Abernathy says. Katniss gives me a look saying she'll wait for me. I walk over to him. Coach Abernathy is a tall paunchy man with steel grey eyes and dark hair with an everlasting smirk on his face. He smells like liquor and vomit more often than not, and slurs his words slightly.

"Yes, Coach."

"Call me Haymitch. Annie, I need you to give the team a pep-talk while I talk to the ump." Coach Abernathy says patting me on the shoulder. "You'll do fine, you always encourage them at practice, so just do it now."

"Okay."

"Come on girls, to the field." Haymitch yells. "We're home team, show them how we play." We all go to the outfield and warm-up. We run around the field to stretch our legs and throw the ball back and forth, and stretch out our arms. We give each other pop-ups and grounders, then I go to warm up with Finch. I first do wrist snap. Then I move back and start with the bottom of the circle, then the top, then do double circles. Finch puts her mask on when I start to throw fast ball. I throw a few change ups, drop-balls, rise-balls, curve-balls, and screw-balls. I nod my head to her. She gets up and screams to our team. She has the loudest voice here.

"COME HERE GIRLS!"

We all huddle in a circle. I start my speech.

"Okay girls. We have to show them what we got. We have to do our best here. This is the first game of the season. We got this." I remember my dad's words. "It doesn't matter if we win or lose, it matters how hard we try and play." We all put our hands in the middle. "CRUSHERS ON 3! READY ONE, TWO, THREE!

"CRUSHERS!" Everyone yells as we throw our hands in the hair. We jog to our positions on the field and the ump yells, "PLAY BALL!"

By the last inning, it's tie game and everyone's tired. "Come on, girls. We still have this. We have to get more runs, and hold them!" I yell as I step on the pitcher's mound. In the last few innings, Maysilee ran from the fence to mid-center field and caught the falling line-drive. Katniss got caught in a run down at 3rd and ended up making it home safe. Madge made it to 3rd on a bunt. I hit a homerun over the fence bringing Clove and Glimmer home with me. Johanna dove, blocking a hard grounder from passing her. I take a deep breath. I look at Finch. She holds three fingers between her legs before putting her right hand behind her back as the batter steps up to the plate. Drop ball it is. I throw one perfectly and it dives down just under the batter's bat. Strike 1. Finch shows four fingers and I throw a rise ball. Number 3 watches it go by. Finch gives me 1 finger and moves her glove. I throw a fast ball to the outside corner and the batter swings and misses but Finch drops the ball. The whole team starts screaming. She throws the ball to Glimmer but her foot wasn't on the base. Fuck.

"No outs, runner on first." Finch yells.

"Come on Ann, you got this." Katniss cheers from left field.

The next batter is up. Finch tells me fastball. I throw a fastball to the top right corner and Number 19 pops it up on a bunt. Finch jumps forward and catches it.

"1 out, runner on first."

The next batter hits my screw ball to Madge. Now it's a batter on 1st and 2nd. 1 out. I throw a fast ball to Number 24 as Number 3 steals to third.

"BOOM!" Finch yells. Clove gets in position. I throw another fast ball and Finch gets up and fires the ball to Clove. She tags the girl out as she was running to second, and she throws the ball to third keeping Number 3 there. Cashmere throws the ball back to me. Finch gives me a fist and I throw my curve ball. The batter pops it up to shortstop and Johanna catches it.

Annie yells, "2 outs, runner on 3rd!" She squats back down and she gives me 1 finger and I start to pitch my fastball. I hear Glimmer say, "Stupid Little Mermaid" and I throw the ball over Finch's head. She runs after the ball and I see the runner on 3rd start to run home. I run home and slide on my knees, catching the ball Finch flips to me, and tagging the girl's leg that slides into my glove. Her cleat rams into my thigh and brings up a cloud of dirt.

The cloud clears and the ump yells, "OUT!" Finch helps me up and gives me a hug. Johanna hugs me and so does Katniss. Maysilee pats on the back when Madge gives me a high five. Glimmer, Clove, and Cashmere just walk past me.

"Good plays, girls." Haymitch says. "Okay, Katniss, you're leading off. Johanna you're next. Then Madge then Annie." He walks to me. "How's your leg?"

I look down at my right thigh. There's a big bruise forming between my sliding shorts and softball socks. I brush some of the dirt off my shorts. "It's fine." He pats me on the back and says, "We need one run to win. We got this."

Katniss walks up to the plate. She puts one foot in the box and looks at Haymitch. He pulls his right ear, touches his knees, taps the tip of his nose, and points at his elbow. Kat nods her head, hits her bat on her cleats and gets in the box. She swings at the first pitch and hits over second base. She runs to first and is safe. Johanna gets up and looks at coach. He touches the bottom of his shoe, fixes his hat, taps the tip of his nose, and cracks his knuckles. Johanna cracks her knuckles back and steps in the box. On the second pitch, she sacrifice bunts to move Katniss to second. Johanna is out and Madge is up. Haymitch nods his head and she gets in the left batter's box. She hits a hard grounder to 3rd base, and when the third basemen throws the ball to first, getting her out, Katniss makes it safe to 3rd. I'm up now. I put my helmet on and walk to the right batter's box. I put one foot in and look at coach. He takes his hat off, holds it to his heart, touches the bottom of his shoe, then his elbow, taps the tip of his nose, and stretches. Okay, he wants me to hit the ball in the gap between center and left. I step in the box, touch the corner of the plate with my bat, line up my knuckles, and get ready. The first pitch is inside and skimming my ribs. The second almost hits my head so I drop to the dirt. I look the pitcher in the eye and she fucking smirks. She's trying to hit me so I can't bring Katniss home. The next one is a high ball and outside the strike zone. I move closer to the plate because I won't be able to reach the ball if she throws one like that again. I give my coach a look. He shrugs. I look back at the pitcher and ball already left her hand. It takes a split second to see it coming towards me again. I shift so it hits me in the back instead of the ribs. Pain shoots from below my left shoulder blade. I try to shake it off. I've felt worse pain but I think the pain in the present hurts the most. I drop my bat and run to first. The pitcher is back on the mound when Maysilee gets up. She looks at me and I nod my head. The pitcher pitches the ball and I jump off the base I run halfway to second and stop. I'm daring the catcher to throw it. Easy enough, she takes the bait, and throws it to shortstop that's waiting at second base for me. Katniss takes off for home when the shortstop throws it to first when I fake run back. I turn around and run back to second as Katniss slides to home safe, and I slide into second. The first basemen threw it home too late because Katniss is already up from her slide. The ump says, "Safe." to the both of us. I jump up and run over to her and give her a hug, and our whole team runs up to give us a hug.

"Good job, girls." Haymitch says to the team. "Hit the showers. You girls smell." He burps as we all head to the locker room. I go to my locker and throw my cleats and bag in it. I grab my towel and go to the shower.

"Great job, Ann." Johanna says smiling. I smile back and say, "You did great, too."

"Finch, nice catching." I say.

Finch smiles. "Thanks. Good pitching."

"Thanks." I feel someone jump on my back, just missing where the ball hit me. Katniss says, "Annie, you were amazing. That musta hurt when you got hit and you just walked it off! I'm so happy we won." She gets off my back and gives me a hug. I should've known it was Katniss, her and Prim are the only people who jump on my back. Mostly Prim though.

"Thanks, and it did. You did amazing too." I say hugging my best friend back. I turn on the water and peel off my sweaty, dirt covered, softball uniform. I let the hot water sooth my hurting thigh and back, and loosen my tight arm and shoulder muscles from pitching. I wash my hair and scrub the dirt off of me. I change into my shorts and pink tank top and tie my converse. Most of the team left the locker room already.

"Ready, Ann?" Taylor asks.

"Yeah." I reach for my phone from my back pocket and find nothing. "Fuck. I forgot my phone in my locker. I'll be there in a sec." I walk back to my locker, shoving my dirty uniform in my backpack, and pick my phone up from the bench in my locker section. I look up and see Glimmer say looking through my locker with Clove and Cashmere behind her, none of them seeing me, "I can't believe this bitch fucking broke my boyfriend's nose." I see her pick up my family picture.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I more say than ask. They turn around.

"Nothing, just looking at some bitch's dead family." Glimmer says still holding my picture.

"Give me the picture." I say, trying to stay calm.

"Why?" Glimmer sneers. Clove and Cashmere are just standing there doing nothing.

"Just give it back." I hold out my hand.

"Hmm, let me think about it." She says in a mocking tone. "No."

"What did I do to you? Just give me my picture. It's important." I say, getting frustrated.

"Really. That sucks, when-" Glimmer rips the picture in half and drops it on the wet, locker room floor. "Oopies." She and her friends laugh and walk away.

I sink to the floor watching my picture get soaked. I reach over to pick up the picture when I hear the screams of my family. I look around as the room fades to black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger games**

**Chapter 3**

All I can hear is their voices in the dark.

"_Little mermaid, help." Shell screams. I can't see anything all I can do is hear._

_I hear my mom start to cry, "Annie come here please. We can't find you!"_

"_Annie, where are-" My dad's voice is cut off by the screech of tires and a loud crash. _

I push my hands over my ears as I start to see my old foster house.

"_I can't believe you broke our vase practicing softball." My foster mom yelled. I started to say sorry but she cut me off, "Sorry's not good enough. That vase has been in my family for centuries and it's not okay. I can't believe you broke it." I feel like she smacked me in the face as she shakes her head in sadness and disappointment. I had known that vase was important. "Just get in your room Annabeth before I do something I might regret." _

"_Why can't you be good? If you were, you could have stayed there." The foster care director told me. "Oy, you're just causing me trouble."_

I hear footsteps walking away from me. I curl myself up in a ball and push my hands harder against my ears, trying to ignore their voices. I shut my eyes so their ripped faces aren't staring at me. I lock all my muscles in place, trying to get small enough so I can't hear them. I squeeze my eyes shut.

"_Annie you killed us." My mom said, pushing her neck back in place._

"_Yeah, little mermaid, who the fuck does that." Shelly says pulling out the glass._

"_If only you could have drove yourself." My dad said wiping the blood out of his hair. They get up and leave me alone in the dark again._

Someone pulls me into their lap and starts stroking my hair. I feel myself stiffen up as a deep voice says, "Shhh, Ann, you're fine. You're okay." It sounds familiar. I lock everything in place and the owner of the voice keeps running its hands through my wet hair. "Annie come on." The same soothing voice says. I feel the familiar softness of someone's hands pull on my wrists. I hear the voice say again, still stroking my hair, "You're okay. You're safe. You're here with me, Finn. Katniss and Peeta are here too. Come out of your head." Katniss gets my hands off my ears and massages my right fist open. Peeta's rougher hands work on my left. "Open your eyes." Finnick says softly. I open them and see Finnick, Peeta, and Katniss sitting on the floor with me. I go to say "sorry" but it sounds more of a choked sob.

Katniss says, "Annie, it's okay to cry." That's when the tears come. I sob into Finnick's neck and clutch his shirt in my hand as I hear Peeta's loud steps walk towards my locker picking up the ripped, wet picture. Finn rubs my back comfortingly. Peeta hands Katniss the picture and she sighs, "Ann, you're gonna be fine. This can be fixed. This'll get better."

I nod my head when the ugly sobs stop, but tears still run freely down my face. "Let's go home." Peeta says picking up my back pack. Finnick moves his arms so one is under my knees and the other is supporting my back. I hook my arms around his neck as he stands up with me still in his arms and we all leave the locker room. I tuck my head into the crook of his neck when we move through the hallways. I hear Thresh's booming voice and I flinch as the sound reaches my ears. I tuck myself further into Finnick's arms and I hear him say.

"Hey, guys- Holy shit, what the hell happened?"

"Well you look like shit." I hear Johanna say.

"Thanks Johanna." I can feel the heat of Katniss's glare.

"So what happened?" Thresh asks.

"Glimmer." Peeta answers. They don't answer so I assume they are nodding their heads in understanding.

"Well we should get going. We got to get Annie home. She should rest, you guys can come if you want." I feel Finnick's voice resonate from where my head rests.

"Okay." They say.

I keep my eyes shut as I'm placed in the car. I whimper slightly as I'm move on the seat to search for body heat. All the warmth from my body that I had in Finnick's arms has disappeared and I can't feel anything other than cold. I pull my knees up to my chest and put my forehead on my knees. An arm is thrown across my shoulder and I'm pulled into someone's side. I feel someone on each side of me and I try to figure out who without opening my eyes. I smell the distinct smell of cinnamon and the ocean. I'm guessing Cinnamon Buns is on my left and Finn is on my right. I fall asleep to the rocking of the car.

I wake up in cold sweat and panting in my room, Saturday morning. I look at my clock. 3:23 am. Fuck. This was my third nightmare tonight. There is no way in hell I'm going back to sleep. I wipe off the dried tears on my face as I crawl out of bed and go in the shower. I let the water burn my skin as I lean my head on the cold tile wall. Why the fuck do I have to be awake at this ungodly hour. I pick my head up, shave my legs, and wash my hair and body. I stand under the shower head longer than I should, savoring the warmth. I finally step out, my skin breaking out in goose bumps from the cold air. I ring out my hair and wrap my towel around myself tightly. I tip-toe to my room down the hall, passing Prim and Katniss's rooms silently, and gently shut my door behind me. I pull on my pink fuzzy socks, pink soffee shorts, and a white tank top. I put my phone in the waist band of my shorts so it rests on my left hip bone and slowly creep out my room, pulling my door shut after me. I hear whimpering from Prim's room. Fuck, she having a nightmare. I open her door slowly and see her rolling around in the moonlight. I cross the room and sit on the edge of her bed.

I stroke her hair and whisper, "It's okay Prim, shhh. You're fine." Her blue eyes shoot open as she pops up to a sitting position. They focus on me and she lies back down. I keep petting her light blonde hair and whisper nothings to her until she falls back asleep. I leave, shutting her door, and sit on the couch in the living room. I grab my iPod on the little table and put in my headphones. Look at me now by Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes is on. I feel bad for Prim. She was 11 when their parents died in a fire. Her and Katniss were in the house when it happened, just waking up in the middle of the night to the smell of smoke. Black was everywhere, coughing hard with eyes burning, and it's hard to breathe. Katniss ran to Prim's room when she woke up. She pulled her little sister up and out of her room. They screamed over for their parents but couldn't find them through the black smoke. Katniss pushed Prim through the burning door first then followed her. Katniss got bad burns all over her back from being on fire as the door collapsed on her after pushing Prim through. She still has those burn marks till this day. Prim came out unscathed other than a heavy heart from death and covered in soot. The police officers and firemen came soon and said their parents died from the inhalation, then burned in the flames. They were then put in foster care and I joined them a few months later. I shake my head to clear the thoughts and my stomach growls loudly. I get up and walk on my sock covered feet to the kitchen and open the fridge. No, I don't want eggs, BACON! Nope, not cooked. Yogurt, no. Corndog… that'll work with my left over Chinese food. I stick them in the microwave for a minute and grab a can of root beer.

DING! Fuck! Was that as loud as I think it was? I hope it didn't wake them up. I grab my breakfast and soda and sit at the table. I eat my lomain and sweet and sour chicken. How the hell does Kat not like Chinese food? I have no clue and I can't even process it, especially at 4:57 am. Holy fuck! It's almost 5 already! I shove my corn dog in my mouth and I grab my can of root beer. I tie up my sneakers and run out the door at 5:05 am. Goose bumps break out on my arms and legs and I start shaking. I forgot to have my coffee. I walk a block to the corner of Perdue and Princeton and wait for Finn.

"Hey, Ann." Finnick says from behind me. I jump and he laughs. "I scared you!"

"Shut up." I say punching his shoulder. He fakes hurt, rubbing the spot where I punched him. I rub my hands on my arms, trying to bring warmth in them in this chilly mid-April morning.

Finn pulls off his sweatshirt, leaving him in a grey t-shirt that clings to his muscles perfectly. I can see his hard abs through his shirt. "Here, you look cold." He says handing it to me.

"Thanks." I smile. "But take it back if you get cold."

"Okay, let's go." Finn says starting to run. I run after him and we run to our pace. We push each other to go as fast as we can. After our run, we sit on a bench on the boardwalk, facing the ocean. I drink all my water from my water bottle and twist the bottom. I turn it until the bottle looks like an hour glass, point it at Finnick, and unscrew the cap. It hits him on his chest and his eyes leave the ocean to meet mine.

"Oh no you didn't." He says like a little kid. He gets up.

"Oh yes I did." I say smiling. He starts towards me. I jump over the back of the bench, with him doing the same, and run as fast as I can down the board walk with him chasing me. We laugh to whole time running and when I reach the basketball courts, the gates closed. I turn around and he shoots my in the stomach with his water bottle. I laugh and climb the fence, hopping over the gate. He walks through it like a normal person.

"Boring." I say teasingly as I toss the basketball to him.

"Hey, at least I'm not a little kid who shoots water bottles at people." He teases back.

"You shot me back so that means you're a little kid too." He sticks out his tongue and shoots the basket.

He tosses it to me and I shoot just like he taught me to. It swishes in and I squeal like a little girl. "I made it in." Yes, making a basket and not being two feet away is a very big accomplishment for me. "Now do it again." Finn says giving it back to me. It hits the backboard and goes in again. I smile widely. He tosses it to me again.

"Nope." I say throwing it back to him. "I made two in and I'm not breaking my roll. I'm good."

He laughs and shoots the ball. _"Woooaah livin' on a prayer. Take my hand and we'll make it, I swear. Woooaah livin' on a prayer. Livin on a praaaaayer." _ Finn pulls out his phone. I make a face. "What? It's a classic." I laugh as he answers his phone.

"Hello? - Uh-huh - Yup - Let me ask. Wanna go to the amusement park with me and Peeta, and Thresh at 10? He said bring Kat if you guys can go."

"Okay." I smile and text Katniss.

**Me: Yo wake up.**

**Katniss: Wgat. It's earky**

**Me: Its 7 and Peeta and Finn wanted us to go to the amusement park with them at 10. Thresh is going too.**

**Katniss: Ok. Lemme shower and eat first and tell them to come to our place.**

**Me: Okay. And text Johanna**

**Katniss: K**

"Yeah. Me and Katniss want to. Come to our place when you're ready."

Finnick tells Peeta this. "-okay. Bye." He puts his phone in his pocket. "Let's get ready."

When I get home, I take another shower and change into my ripped cut-off shorts and a black tank top and pull on Finn's sweatshirt. I forgot to give it back to him so it's mine for today. I walk to the kitchen after tying my converse and see Katniss sitting on the counter, talking to Peeta and Finnick.

"Hey." Peeta says seeing me. He walks around the counter to give me a hug and smiles seeing whose sweatshirt I'm wearing. Why the fuck is he giving me that smile?

"Cinnamon Buns, got anything for me today?" I say pulling back. He passes me a roll of sour dough bread. I take a big bite and smile at him. "Thjasankds."

"Hey Annie." Finnick says giving me a hug hello after Peeta.

"Annie." Katniss says jumping off the counter and onto my back. "That's what you get for taking forever to get ready. Oh, and before I forget. The guys are sleeping over tonight because we are staying 'til the park closes. And by the time we get home, it'll be past 12."

"Okay." I laugh as she wraps her legs around me and stays there. Whatever, she's like a monkey, and not that heavy anyway. I pour myself a cup of coffee and pour milk and sugar in it. "Ready to go?" Kat says, pulling on my/Finn's hood. I nod, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Fuck! Ow." I stick out my tongue a little bit. "Stupid coffee." I mumble. They all laugh as we head to the car. Katniss hops off my back and right into the front seat. Peeta drives his car with Katniss next to him and me and Finn in the back.

"Oh and Thresh and Jo are meeting us there." Katniss says smiling.

"Okay." Peeta says.

Peeta plays with the radio until a thousand years comes on. He goes to change it and Katniss stops him. "Heart beats fast, colors and promises. How to be brave how can I love when I'm afraid to fall. Watching you stand alone. All of my doubts suddenly goes away somehow. One step closer. I have died everyday waiting for you. Darlin' don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years! I'll you for a thousand more." Me and Katniss smile at each other when we're done, now noticing that Peeta and Finnick are staring at us with looks of utter amazement.

I blush a deep crimson, looking at my knees, trying to look anywhere but my friends who have now decided to start bombarding us with questions, ones that I have and will never answer. It reminds me too much of my childhood. I would sing for Shelly when she would feel down. It made me feel important that I can help with one of Shell's problems and not be the annoying little meddling sister.

After more blushing and questions, we finally arrive at Little Mountain Rock Amusement Park "where all adults can feel like kids." Jesus Christ, there are the corniest mother fuckers on the planet. It's not like Disney where dreams can come true -what? That place is fucking awesome- and shit like that. No. They have to get a better name.

I look to see Peeta getting out, making his way over to Katniss. Although Katniss finds a way to somehow fall flat on her face before Peeta even gets to close the door. Cinnamon Buns gasps, rushing over to her, when I start crying with laughter. Her clumsiness never fails to amaze me. Finnick just stares and shakes his head looking at me with an amused expression, probably wondering how the hell she is a hunter who can stalk prey quietly in the woods. I give him a shrug and a smile. We get out, laughing, and follow a bruising Katniss and worried Peeta.

We pay for our tickets and head for the largest rollercoaster in the park, "The Anaconda" I can see Katniss smirking… I have a feeling I know what she's going to do. She picks up her phone and dials a number. A few seconds go by and she starts talking rapidly. "PRIM! PRIM! GET OVER HERE NOW! ANNIE IS HAVING A SIEZURE!... WE'RE AT THE AMUSEMENT PARK!... YES NOW HURRY!" I give Katniss an expectant look.

"Um, Katniss… what was that?" Peeta looks like he's trying to hold back his laughter.

"I, am getting my sister to come and ride the scariest rollercoaster in the fucking united states. Bitch got style." Katniss smiles. Now I'm trying to hold back the tears of laughter.

"Wait, how is she getting here?" Finn asks.

"Oh shit!" Katniss picks up her phone and dials a number again. "Yeah, okay I want you to grab her and put her in your truck and drive here as fast as you can!... Yup. Thanks. Bye." Katniss has the biggest smile on her face.

"What are you doing to her Kat?" I ask, hesitant. "Well I called Gale, my friend from my journalism class, and asked him to break into our apartment, grab Prim, put her in the trunk of his car, and drive over here."

Well okay then. I want to see the look on her face when she gets here.

Ten minutes later, we see an annoyed looking Gale with a screaming Prim over his shoulder. I had to laugh at this.

"Thanks Gale!" Katniss gives him a hug. "Wait what?!" Prim gives us a glare. I shrug and look at Katniss. She just smiles and looks at Gale, gasping when she sees his arms and face.

"What the hell happened!" Katniss screams. "Oh, well your sister attacked me with a baseball bat and went all apeshit! Why does she have a bat behind her bed?!" He practically screams at us. Prim smiles and stands next to Peeta. Gale looks dumbfounded and just walks off. Katniss screams a thank you and an 'i-owe-you-one' at him and turns to Prim.

"Okay so you are going to go on the Anaconda with us. You wanna? Okay that's great, you do now let's go!" Katniss says. Prim starts to protest but I clamp her mouth shut with my hand and let her rant. Finn and Peeta hold her arms so she doesn't run as we wait for Thresh and Johanna to arrive.

They arrive soon enough and we get on the line for the Anaconda. To pass the time, we decide to play would you rather, perverted version. This used to be my and Taylor's favorite game. "I'll go first." She looked around the group with an evil glint in her eyes. "Okay, Finn." Fuck. I feel so bad for him right now. "Would you rather be given a blow-job by my-" She taps me on the shoulder "—dear best friend over here or eat her out." My mouth pops open and I give her a look saying what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you.

Finn blushes beet red and laughs it off, throwing an arm over my shoulder, "I'd wanna give my girl over here some pleasure." He answers teasingly. My mouth opens even wider as I blush.

"Hey Ann, you look like you're ready to return the favor!" Johanna says motioning to my mouth. I lunge at her but strong arms catch me around my waist.

"I'm gonna kill you Jo!" I say struggling in Finnick's arms.

"Love you too, but you're gonna thank me later." Johanna says from behind Thresh.

"Okay my turn." Finn says changing the subject, turning to Prim. "Prim, would you rather fuck me or Peeta." Both make a provocative pose.

"That's nasty." Prim says making a face.

"Prude!" Katniss and I say in unison. We smile at each other, thinking about when she freaked out when Katniss was telling us her "date".

Prim glances at both guys. "Lift up your shirts." Finnick and Peeta look at each other and obey. They both show their 6-packs.

"I think you're drooling over there." Katniss whispers to me and I glare at her.

"How about both in one night?" Prim says. We all laugh as Katniss says, "That's not gonna happen."

Prim looks at me and says, "Thresh, would you rather drink puke or eat rotten eggs."

"Definitely rotten eggs. Okay, Katniss." Thresh smile at her. "Would you rather get raped or willingly have sex with a forty year old?" Heehee. I wanna see this answer

"Raped." She shrugs nonchalantly. gives her the look saying 'that-better-not-happen'. I don't blame him. Katniss turns to Peeta and has that glint in her eyes that makes you want to shit yourself. "Would you rather… get it on with that bitch Glimmer, or your ex, Delly?" I legit want to hug her. She's testing him. Oh, Jesus Christ I feel bad for him. Katniss has the temper of a kid with ADHD whose ice cream just got stolen. He will either wind up with a black eye, or a broken rib. Either way she'll windup forgiving him and they'll start making out.

Peeta has pure fear in his eyes. _If you were smart you would say 'You are my only love'. _"Well…" He looks at his fuming girlfriend and smiles his award winning smile "I couldn't bear to think of that because you are the only one for me." Thank the fucking Lord and all that is in the fucking heaven that he has a way with word. I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

Satisfied with his answer, Katniss gives him a hug snuggles into his neck. Peeta grins smugly and looks at Prim. "Okay little one… would you rather… have sex with someone who is longer or wider?"

"Ew, you guys are so gross. I'm not playing anymore." Prim says moving up in line.

"Prude!" Finn and Peeta say together. Katniss and I give them high-fives.

"Okay so it's still my turn. Ummmm… Finn same question." Peeta says.

"Ew dude, I don't go that way but I'd have to say-"

I cut him off singing my fruit song as loud as I can, to the music of "my favorite things" from the sound of music. "Bananas and apples, and cold watermelons. Lemons and blueberries, and sweet pomegranates. Grape fruit and kiwi boxed up in the store. These are a few of my favorite fruits. I cannot hear you because I am singing. Papayas and cherries and mangos and peaches. Pears, plums, and raspberries with bumps on their skin. These are a few of my favorite fruits. Cranberries and kumquats and strawberry milkshakes. Tangerines and tomatoes and an avocado. Blackberries and coconuts that melt in my mouth. These are a few of my favorite fruits. Guava explodes and figs do too, when I am hungry. I simply eat my favorite fruits and then I don't feeeeel emmmptyyyyy. ANYMOOORREEE!"

"Ya done?" Jo asks. I nod my head. "Thank the Lord and all that is holy!"

"The fuck was that?" Thresh asks.

I start to answer but Prim cuts me off, "It's her I-don't-want-to-hear-you song."

Finn says, "That's actually a good song. I'd learn it but I'd sound gay if I sung it."

"True. You would sound gay." I say laughing. I'm picturing Finnick singing that song hugging a pineapple.

"I'm hurt." Finn puts his hand on his chest in mock-pain. "You were supposed to say that I wouldn't sound gay."

"Hey I was just telling you the truth." I say. We move up in line.

Finn starts up the game again. "Okay, my turn. Jo. Would you rather throw up every time you have an orgasm or a vibrator up your ass for a whole week? And no you can't turn it off."

"Holy fuck. Um, shit. I guess a vibrator up my ass." Johanna says, with a straight face. I hold back a blush for her. That has got to be embarrassing to do that for a whole week.  
They all laugh. Prim makes a face. Hey if she was going to be like that she shouldn't have come. Ha ha. She didn't have a choice. That was funny though. Poor Gale.

"Hmmm, Annie. Would you rather have sex in the same position every night or have sex in a different position every night and you can never repeat?"

"Um, the second one." I say quietly.

"Ooooo Annie's getting down and dirty!" Johanna yells.

I blush slightly and think about who I'm going to ask. Got one. "Okay, Peeta. Would you rather have an invisible penis or a penis that turns green and tears out of your clothing like the Incredible Hulk every time you get aroused?"

"Invisible." Peeta says.

"Good choice." I say. "Imagine having the incredible hulk erection during class?" I laugh and so does everyone else.

"Imagine if it made the noise too. Like RAWR!" Katniss yells laughing.

"Attack of the green penises!" Johanna laughs. Tears come to my eyes as I wheeze and snort unattractively.

Laughing, Katniss and I do our hand shake that we've had since we were 12. "Whiteman. Blackman. Batman. Superman. Spiderman. Sandman." Then we fist bump.

"Annie, payback time. Would you rather get caught masturbating with Finn or have Prim walk in on you guys in the middle of the act?"

The fuck? Fuck me! Why do they keep putting us together? Finn doesn't like me like that, and I'm not admitting to anyone that I actually like-like Finn. Yes, I know I sound like a 2nd grader saying that but I don't know what to say. Fancy? Is that the word? I fancy Finnick Odair. But I'd never say it like that. Especially out loud. Fuck, how am I going to answer that? I'm saved! Thank the lord!

"Next in line please." The rollercoaster guy said. We all walk up and walk to the seats. It's Finn and I lined up in the front row, Katniss and Peeta are going to be in the seats behind us, then Johanna and Thresh, then Prim and this cute kid behind them. He has deep brown eyes, light brown hair, a cute smile, and looks like he's Prim's age. I look at Katniss and we have the same idea.

"Prim come here a second." I say.

Katniss talks quickly and quietly to her. "Okay, go make friends with that guy. He's really cute and you have to get back out there."

I finish off our little talk, "Find out his name, if he has a girlfriend, and if he's your type. Now go!" Katniss and I both push her toward him and look the other way when she bumps right into him. We listen in on their conversation.

"I'm so sorry. My stupid sisters pushed me." Prim says. Stupid? I look at Katniss. She feels the same way. We are the ones who got them talking!

"It's okay. I'm Alex." Alex says sticking out his hand.

"I'm Primrose, you can call me Prim." Prim says shaking it. They get cut off by the gates opening. We all get on the Anaconda. I pull down the restraint and buckle it in the front. Finnick does the same. The people, I don't know what the fuck they are called, check the restraints and put their thumbs up.

"You are ready to ride the Anaconda! Have a great ride!" The announcer says. Finn smiles at me and I smile back as the cart starts rolling. We swing onto the tracks with the rest of the rollercoaster following and stop at the runway. I look over to Finnick and he smiles at me, taking my hand in his. Our fingers interlock as we shoot off. My eyes water from the wind as we shoot over the huge hill and do corkscrews and flips.

We pull into the station and get out of the cart, Finn still holding my hand. He helps me out of the cart and smiles at me. I smile back and turn around, and see Prim talking to Alex. I tap Katniss's shoulder and nod my head to them talking. She stops mid-sentence and listens with me.

"Do you wanna hang out with us for a little bit?" Prim asks him.

"Sorry I have to get back to my friends. But we should hang out sometime. Can I have your number?" Alex says, quickly looking over at his friends. They motion for him to hurry up.

"Okay." Prim smiles. They trade phones and put in their numbers.

"Well I got to go. I'll call you, okay? Bye Prim." Alex says, putting his phone in his pocket.

"Okay. Bye Alex."

Prim walks over to us four and smiles. "Next ride." We walk around the park and go on all the rides, with a lot more perverted would-you-rathers. On El Toro, I kept ducking when we would pass under any wooden frames, and I saw Finn and Thresh doing the same thing. I guess it's a tall person thing. It's not like we're going to hit out heads on it, but it makes me duck anyway, knowing how many times I've hit my head on shit. King-da Ka was great and the wind made my hair come out of the quick pony I had it in when we got off of The Anaconda. I always lose my hair ties. The Scream Machine hurt Katniss's ears and gave her and Prim a headache because they were hitting their heads on the side of the seats. Don't ask me how they kept hitting their heads. My sister did the same but always went on because I love that ride. We ate right before we went on the Tilt-A-Whirl. Me, Finn, Jo, Prim, Peeta, and Thresh went on. Katniss held our phones because the last time she went on, she almost threw up, and she didn't even eat before that time! Coming off Finn, Prim, and I were okay, and Thresh and Peeta were just a tad dizzy. Johanna was looking a little green. On Nitro, me and Katniss's favorite ride, Prim screamed bloody murder. It kind of made me feel bad about forcing her on the ride with Katniss but it's alright. That's still the best ride in the park. Batman had the worst would-you-rather. It was from Finnick to Thresh, that kid's mind. It was, "Would you rather get fucked in the butt or have to suck a guy's penis. Both with strangers." Both were fucking horrible and Thresh couldn't answer that. Thresh's punishment was to smell the guy in front of us. He looked at him like he was fucking crazy. Well I would think he was crazy too if a random person comes up and smells me. Superman hurt my boobs and stomach. The attendant put the harness to tight and when we were moved to hanging and facing the ground, it fucking hurt. 137 pounds on your boobs and stomach hurts, a lot. On Rolling Thunder, I thought we were going to come off the tracks. The Green Lantern hurt my legs and it was just uncomfortable. The idea of standing as the rollercoaster is moving sounds cool but it just hurts. On the line of The Tower of Terror, Finn and Katniss scared me shitless. I screamed bloody murder and they laughed. The Kraken had many corkscrews, flips, hills, and loops. I think if you could win at bumper cars, I would've won. No one else was on line, so it was only the seven of us. I would start on one side and pick one of them on the other side of the rink, go as fast as I can go, and slam into them, and both of us shoot back. Jo and I ganged up on Cinnamon Buns and he went flying! It was great. After bumper cars, we all tried the rope ladder. I was so close to the red bar but I fell. None of us won anything on that. I beat everyone at whack-a-mole, and won a pink porcupine. I named it Raspberry. We played darts and Peeta won a green turtle, and he gave it to Katniss. That was so cute. By the time we walked out of the park, I couldn't keep my eyes open. Peeta and Katniss are in the front again, I sit in the back with Finn on my right, and Prim on my left. Jo and Thresh went back to their houses together. Prim chatters aimlessly to Peeta, and Katniss is singing to the music. I lay my head on Finn's shoulder, pulling Raspberry into my arms and shut my eyes.

_**April, Junior year, High School**_

"_Hahaa." I laugh as Katniss tells me about how she was watching Paranormal Activity with Prim._

"_She screamed when the girl was being pulled down the stairs and into the closet. I jumped but held in my laughter listening to Prim." Katniss smiles. We both still lived in Foster Care, but all we have 1 year 'til Katniss turns 18 and moves out with Prim, and I have a year and a half 'till I can move in with them. The only good part about foster care is that we are covered and don't need to get a job 'til we turn 21. The place cares for us, but we have to pay for college. That's why Katniss and I are working hard to keep our grades up and get softball scholarships. Katniss and Prim went to the movies to see Paranormal Activity. Kat had two tickets and I was going to go with her but I was stuck doing a gay project for Spanish. 3 years of taking it, (Yes, I'm a junior,) and I can finally rant in it! It's great. Anyway, so I was doing a project do today, so Katniss forced her little sister, whose 15 into an R rated movie so she wouldn't be alone. I already saw that one but I was going to go again because Kat didn't see it yet, and it was a good movie. When I saw the girl get pulled down the stairs, I can say I was surprised but I laughed at her._

_I go to my locker laughing, and throw my shit in it, then grab my Math and English books. I slam the door and turn to Katniss. She already has her books, and we walk down the hallway for lunch, on the complete other end of the school. Our lockers suck. They are so far away from everything else. The hallways are already clear since everyone in our grade already in lunch. _

"_Come on, Kat. I'm starving." I say_

"_Me-" She cuts herself off by tripping over her own feet and landing with a SMACK on the floor. All of her shit goes everywhere!_

"_HAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAA!" I snort and I can't stop long enough to stick out my hand to help her. My right hand holding my stomach and my other is holding my books._

"_Are you okay?" A deep voice asks. I look down at my fallen best friend to see a boy who has a toned chest and a stocky figure with wavy light blonde hair that fell across his forehead and light blue eyes, gathering her spilt books and helping her up._

"_Ummm. Yeah, I'm alright." Katniss blushes. Holy shit. Katniss blushes! She so likes him._

"_I'm Peeta Mellark." Peeta says, sticking out his hand._

"_I'm Katniss. And she's Annie." Katniss says shaking his hand._

"_Hi, Cinnamon Buns." I say waving. Peeta Mellark. Peeta Mellark. Where do I know that name from. I look at his shirt. Cougar's Baseball. That's where I heard his name. He's the short shop and second basemen for our school team. His name is on the board at lunch all the time for making great plays. He gives me a weird look for the nickname but smiles anyway._

"_Hey don't you play for our school softball team?" Peeta asks._

"_Yup." Katniss says smiling proudly. "I'm the left fielder, and Annie is the pitcher and center fielder."_

_Peeta's eyes widen a little, hearing that I'm the pitcher. I bet he heard the whole Cato thing. He smiles anyway, not giving me a look of pity like most people do, and hands Katniss her books._

"_Do you girls wanna sit with me at lunch." Peeta asks. Katniss smiles and nods her head. I follow her lead._

_**3 months later, June 2011, Junior year, High School**_

"_Marisa can I talk to you?" Peeta asks._

"_Sure, Cinnamon Buns." I say following him. It has been 3 months since we became friends with Peeta. First Katniss, then me. We all became very close and know each other's stories. Right now Katniss and I are at Peeta's house, doing homework._

"_I know you and Kat are really close so I wanted to ask you something." Peeta says once we are in the kitchen, Katniss left in the living room. I nod my head to him as I take a sip of my root beer can. "Does Katniss like me?"_

_I choke a little bit on my soda and narrow my eyes at him. I don't want to give Katniss away. Peeta has been all she could talk about and she really likes him._

"_Well I wanna ask her out but I don't want to ruin our friendship if she doesn't like me like that." Peeta says nervously tapping his fingers on the counter._

_I smile at him, putting my drink down. "Yeah she really likes you and she would definitely want to go out with you." He shines brightly as his smile takes up his whole face. I put my elbows on the counter top and say seriously. "You better not hurt her."_

"_I won't." Peeta says._

"_Seriously. If you hurt her, in any way where I'm going to have to comfort her with ice cream, movies, and fuzzy pajama pants, I'm going to use my bat on your knees and castrate you. Got it?"_

_He swallows loudly. "Yeah."_

"_Good." I smile, patting his cheek. I pick up my soda can and take a sip. "Now go get your girl."_

_He smiles and follows me into the living room._

"_Annie, wake up." A soothing voice floats into my dream land. "Wake up Ann."_

"ANNIE WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Katniss screams over Finnick who was shaking my shoulder. I lash out in surprise toward her voice, waking up quickly. "Finn, there's no subtle way to wake her up." The last time she woke me up, she was jumping on my bed.

"Let's go inside, Ann." Finnick says helping me out of the car. When I stand up, I get a head rush, and everything's blurry and swaying. I grip onto Finn's arm as my senses start to focus again. I start to walk but I'm so tired and I have no energy. Everyone else is fine, but they didn't wake up at 3 am that morning. I lean most of my weight on Finn as we walk into the apartment and riding the elevator to the 3rd floor. Finnick, Peeta, Katniss, Prim, and I walk to 3F and Katniss shoves the key in the lock, opening the door. We all kick off our shoes and Katniss and Peeta head to her room, heads to hers, and Finn heads to the couch. No one's going home now. Its 12:37. Shit I've been up for 22 hours. I need sleep. Finnick pulls a blanket for himself and lies down on the couch. I rub my eyes, forgetting about my make-up and say with my words filled with sleep, "Come sleep with me. The couch is uncomfy."

"No, it's alright. I'll sleep here." Finnick says.

I stumble over to him, grab his hand and try to pull him up. "Just come. If you don't, your back will hurt in the morning from the couch." That's true. Our couch may be comfy to sit on but to lie down on for a while; it hurts a lot in the morning. I know that for a fact. It's not only that I don't want him to be in pain, I don't want to sleep alone tonight.

"Okay." Finnick says, standing up. He follows me to my room and I shut the door behind us. I turn around taking off my/Finn's sweatshirt and pull on a loose shirt, then take off my shorts, and slip on baggy sweatpants. I toss Finnick's sweatshirt and my shorts to the corner of my room. When I turn around, I see Finn already in his sweatpants, and is now pulling off his shirt. I try not to stare at his muscular back as he puts on his sleep shirt. I love how we are comfortable enough with each other that we can change in the same room together and not get weirded out. I crawl onto my queen bed and pull the covers over me. Finnick gets in behind me and puts his arm under his pillow, facing me.

"Thanks, Ann. This is a lot comfier than the couch."

"No problem, Finn." I yawn. "Night."

"Night." Finnick says shutting his eyes. I fall asleep fast, and I sleep the night through with no nightmares for the first time in years.

**A/N: Tayloormellark helped me write some of the would you rathers and the answers to them.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is kind of short**

**Chapter: 4**

I wake up to the feeling of warmth and the voice of my best friend saying, "Annie do you know where Finn—Ugh they so are not just friends. They are so cute together." Katniss shuts the door softly and I hear her talking to Peeta. I listen to them talk, but keep my eyes closed.

"They were sleeping together. Both still out. They are so cute. Why won't they go out. I've seen the way she looks at him. She so likes him!" Katniss says.

"I know. And I've noticed him too. He likes her back but he won't admit it. He probably doesn't want to mess up their friendship if it doesn't work out. He would never hurt her on purpose." Peeta says probably drinking some coffee.

"That makes sense but they are really good for each other." Katniss says.

I am snuggling into the warmth around me when I finally realize the position Finnick and I are in. One of Finn's legs is in between mine, and my right knee is slung over his hip. My head is on his right arm, and his left arm is around my side, keeping us together. My right hand is under his shirt, resting over his heart, and there is no space between our bodies. I blush thinking how comfy this position is and how I don't want to move. I hear a little intake of breathe and I am met with Finnick's ocean green eyes. He smiles sleepily saying, "Good morning Ann."

"Good morning Finn." I say smiling. He's still half asleep as he pulls me closer to him, making me move my leg more over his hip. His eyes widen and he blushes. I smile, thinking he looks so cute when he blushes. Finnick rolls on to his back giving me the option to get up. I pull my hand out from his shirt, dragging my fingers lightly over his hard stomach muscles, and he shivers slightly. I smile moving my leg off his hip and cuddle up to his side, laying my head on his shoulder. I revel in the warmth I have lying next to Finn before having to start the day.

"What should we do today?" I ask him. His stomach growls in response.

"Eat." Finnick says smiling.

"Okay, I'm hungry too." I say, my stomach growling as proof. He laughs and we both get out of bed. I walk my dresser and brush my rats-nest of hair. I run my fingers through my side bangs and push them back. Finn hip checks me away from my mirror so he could fix his hair. The hair on the right side of his head is sticking up from the way we were sleeping.

"Let's go get food." Finnick says when he's done. He turns around and walks to the door and I follow him. On my way there, my dresser gets in my way and the corner rams into my left hip bone. "THUMP!" It hits my hip then bump into the wall behind it.

"Mmmmm, FUCK!" I moan grabbing my hip. I tried not to scream but it still came out really loud. He turns around to see me doubled over, both hands gripping my hip. He puts on a straight face, but his eyes are filled with laughter. "Ugggh, I feel like I got shot!" I say with my teeth clenched. Finn starts laughing silently and his face gets real red. I say more curse words incoherently as I try to walk it off. I could get hit with a softball over 60 mph and walk it off but I can't take walking into a dresser. I walk down the stairs walking funny, trying to make it not hurt, with Finnick following me. I limp into the kitchen with Katniss and Peeta sitting at the counter eating waffles. I guess Prim is still sleeping. I look at the clock. 10:02 am. Yeah she's definitely sleeping.

Peeta looks up from getting his waffles and says smirking, "Boy, that was fast. I bet you were real good, Finn. Is this your walk of shame or what?" I plop down on the stool next to his and smack his arm. He laughs and rubs his arm, mocking pain. Katniss puts another waffle on her plate, putting a scoop of vanilla ice cream on and covering it with chocolate syrup and whipped cream from the can. Like the spray one, we all agree that one is better than the whipped cream in the tub. I place three big Eggo waffles on my plate and fill each square on all of them with maple syrup then walk slowly to the fridge. The pain is finally edging away when I open the door and grab the strawberries. I grab a knife and a cutting board and cut a few up, sprinkling it over my waffles. I spray the whipped cream in my mouth so my cheeks puff out. I swallow and cover my whole plate in whipped cream and then drizzle it with more maple syrup.

"Got enough whipped cream there, Annie?" Katniss says motioning to my plate.

"Uhhuuuh." I say filling my mouth up. I put it down and shut my mouth. Katniss hits both my cheeks at the same time so my blessed whipped cream shoots out of my mouth. I catch it in my hand and I give her a how-dare-you-do-that-to-me-and-my-whipped-cream look. I think I'm the only person who has that look. I always crave whipped cream and cheese, preferably cheddar cheese. Those are my weaknesses. For food at least.

I sit down and eat my waffles. I see Finn and Cinnamon Buns loading up on theirs. The amount they eat is crazy and I have no clue how they aren't fat yet. Where do they put all of it? They both have 5 huge waffles on their plates with ice cream, sprinkles, strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream, and maple, strawberry, and chocolate syrup on top. They are completely crazy.

"So what was the bang up there if it wasn't you guys getting it on?" Peeta asks with his mouth full. I hold back a blush from his comment.

"Annie walked into her dresser." Finnick says. Katniss starts laughing.

"She would!" Katniss says still laughing slightly. "Let me guess, it was her hip." I nod my head. She laughs again. I do it enough for her to already to know.

We finish our waffles and Katniss and I get up to do the dishes. She washes, I dry.

"So how was sleeping with Finn?" Taylor asks jokingly, hitting her shoulder against mine.

"If you have to know, it was good. I didn't have any nightmares last night." I smile, remembering how warm and comfortable I was.

"Oh my god that's so good. You so like him!" Katniss yells.

I cover her mouth with my hands. "Shh."

"Oh my god you do!" Katniss whispers when I remove my hands.

I nod my head. "You can't tell him. I don't wanna make it awkward."

"You won't make it awkward. And I won't tell him." She promises.

The guys left before dinner. We relaxed and watched scary movies all day. We watched The Ring, Friday the 13, Would You Rather, and The Last Exorcism. I ended up jumping in Finn's lap, screaming, when Prim popped up behind the couch and grabbed my shoulders at an intense part of the movie. She laughed and took my spot on the couch. I decided to stay on Finnick. It would be awkward for me to sit on anyone else and the arm on the couch isn't comfy. And there was no fucking way that I was going to sit on the floor and have something eat me. Or drag me under the couch screeching in my ear. So I stayed on Finn, and it didn't seem like he cared. He was sitting in a criss-cross-apple-sauce position and I was sitting on his legs. I leaned back into his chest and he wrapped his arms around my waist and put his chin on my shoulder. We watched the rest of the movies in that position.

"What do you want for dinner?" I ask Prim.

"Taco Bell!" She says.

"Yeah. Taco Bell!" Kat yells excited. No one gets between her and her tacos. And I love tacos too. So this dinner is going to be great.

"Let's go." I say grabbing my keys. We all climb in my car. I'm driving, Katniss's in the front and Prim is in the back. We drive through to drive-through.

"How may I help you?" The voice says.

"Yes, um can I have ten chicken Chalupa Supremes and three empanadas." I say. 4 for me because I'm a fat ass, and 3 each for Tay and Ash. We get the same thing every time we come here. And their caramel apple empanadas are fucking amazing.

"Okay, that will be $19.36. Go to window two." The guy says. We get our food and are home in no time.

We all sit on the couch and dig in on our tacos watching this week's Once Upon a Time. The whole time, Prim's phone is fucking DING-ing. It's so annoying. She should have it on vibrate like me and Katniss's phones. It's frustrating but the last time it was on vibrate, Prim lost it. How the hell can you lose your phone on vibrate? Well, I know that easily. When Katniss and I were in middle school, when both our families were alive, I lost my phone in the grass field by her house. It was in my boot, on vibrate, and we were doing cartwheels and we were making up a dance. My sneaky little phone fell out of my shoe and was hidden in the high grass. I didn't realize it 'til we got back to her house. We looked everywhere, and we looked under cars and everything. Her neighbors thought we were crazy because we were lying on the floor and freaking out. Katniss saved my life and found my phone. Back to Prim losing her phone, it wasn't even lost! It was on her dresser. Like who doesn't check their dresser? DING!

"Holy shit Prim. Turn it off. Who's so important that you aren't eating your tacos for?" I say. That ringing is pissing me off and I'm done. Whenever I have any food, especially tacos, I tell whoever I'm texting that I have to go. It's food. Are you kidding me? I don't get how people can text and eat. For one, I'm a messy eater. Food gets on my face and hands when I eat. And I hate having a sticky phone.

"No one." Prim says checking her phone that dinged again. She blushes then answers back. I look at Katniss and find her looking at me, smiling evilly. I give her a slight nod and look at Prim's phone then back to her. Katniss smiles and nods her head. It's great at times like these that we can talk through motions. I put down my taco and we wait for the perfect moment. She finishes her text and puts down her phone to take a bite of her taco. I kick the coffee table and look at the window.

"Holy shit, Prim. I think a bird flew into the window!" I get up to look and her follows me. Katniss picks up Prim's phone and puts it in her pocket.

"There's nothing there." She says sitting back down.

"I could have sworn I heard something." I say sipping on root beer. I share a smile with Katniss when Prim isn't looking. That worked perfectly.

DING! Fuck! Prim looks around the table and looks at us. We both take huge bites of our tacos to keep a straight face. I finish my last taco when Prim's phone rings. DING! Shit! Prim just saw Katniss's pocket light up.

"Katniss, give me my phone." Prim says holding out her hand. Katniss swallows her taco and smiles. She shakes her head, standing up. I stand up after taking another bite of my taco. "Really. Give it to me." Prim says, standing up. I move over so I'm right next to Katniss. I pull Prim's phone out of Katniss's back pocket, and slip it in mine.

"No!" Katniss yells running away.

"Give it!" Prim yells back, chasing her.

I laugh loudly and run up stairs, as they chase each other on the lower floor. I go in my room, leaving the door half opened and locked. When Katniss gets in here, all we have to do is shut the door. I hear their running get closer and Katniss charges in my room and slams the door.

I hear Prim bang on the door. I flop on my bed with Prim's phone in my hand and Katniss jumps on next to me. We look through her text messages. Oh my god, she was texting Alex. We look at each other and smile.

**Alex: Hey :)**

**Prim: Hi :)**

**Alex: What's up**

**Prim: Nothing. Eating tacos :) hbu**

**Alex: Watching football and texting a beautiful girl.**

**Prim: Who?**

**Alex: You ;)**

**Prim: :) I'm watching Once Upon A Time.**

**Alex: Cool. We should really hang out sometime. Saturday, movies?**

**Prim: Yeah sounds good :)**

**Alex: Shit, well my brother is being an asshole. I'll text you later, okay?**

**Prim: Okay, bye.**

**Alex: Bye.**

"Awww. They're so cute." I say.

"Ash has a date this Saturday!" Katniss says.

"I know!" I say excitedly. "We have to get her ready for that!"

"We do! Okay, we should give her back her phone before she breaks your door." Taylor says.

"Yeah." I say. I get up and open the door. Prim was sitting against the wall across the hall.

"Done reading my text messages?" Prim says taking her phone out of my hand.

"Yup." Katniss smiles. Prim punches both of us in the arm.

I rub my arm, saying sarcastically, "That hurt sooo much."

Katniss says mimicking my tone, "I'm gonna cry."

"Shut up and go away." Prim says walking into her room.

We laugh and go down stairs. I put the empanadas in the fridge and throw out the garbage while Katniss puts on her softball sweatshirt and ties her running shoes.

"I'm going out to run, okay?" She says putting her phone in her pocket.

"Okay." I say and she leaves. I watch the rest of Once Upon A Time and go up to my room. I leave my tank top on, but I change out of my baggy sweat pants and put on soffee shorts. I plug my iPod in the iHome and Take Your Shirt Off by T-Pain plays around my room. I lie down on the floor and do my work out. 20 sit ups, 7 pushups, and 20 4-count jumping jacks, and repeat. I usually do 5, but tonight I had the energy to do 6. I take a cold shower and wash all the sweat off my body. When I lay down in bed in a baggy shirt and booty shorts, I notice that I have 2 text messages.

**Katniss: Back from my jog. I'm going to bed. I heard you in the shower.**

I text her back saying:

**Okay, night.**

A few seconds later, she texts me:

**Night, Annie.**

The other text message was from Finnick:

**Hey**

I answer him:

**Hi :)**

**Finnick: What's up.**

**Me: Nothing, laying down, just got out of the shower. Hbu?**

**Finnick: Same and I'm eating sour patch.**

**Me: Cool :) Holy shit I have to tell you something!**

**Finnick: What is it?**

**Me: Prim has a date this Friday!**

**Finnick: No way! With who?**

**Me: Alex.**

**Finnick: The Alex she met at Little Mountain Rock Amusement Park?**

**Me: Yeah!**

**Finnick: :)**

I yawn, my eyes fighting to stay open.

**Me: I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow. Night.**

**Finnick: Good night.**

I put my phone on the small dresser next to my bed and turn off the lights. I let my eyes shut and I fall asleep right away.

**A/N: Again sorry for the short chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Warning! The nightmare in this chapter is bad. I'm just telling you now.**

**Chapter 5:**

I put my phone on the small dresser next to my bed and turn off the lights. I let my eyes shut and I fall asleep right away.

"_Hey, Annie." Cato, my boyfriend says hugging me. We are doing homework at his house right now._

"_Hi, Cato." I say hugging him. He kisses me on the lips, lightly pushing me so we are sitting on the couch. We kiss for a while, ignoring our homework._

"_Ew, gross. Not in public." Cato's little brother, Alex says. Alex is in 8__th__ grade just like Prim and he has straight light brown hair and deep brown eyes. Other than the eyes and hair, they look exactly the same. They have complete different personalities, too. Alex is shy, and Cato is outgoing. They are polar opposites with the way they think and act._

"_Let's do homework." Cato smiles charmingly. I nod my head and we do our homework laughing and smiling. Today his smiles seem… off. I wonder why. We finish our homework fast and go outside on his porch. I bring all my school shit with me and I drop it on the floor. I have to be back at foster care in 10 minutes and it takes 5 to get there from her. I have to be back soon. Cato sits on the porch swing and starts swaying back and forth._

"_What's a matter?" I ask, sitting next to him. _

"_Well." He looks up and meets my eyes. His cold blue eyes show amusement even though he has a straight-face. Never mind, I was lying. Now he's smirking cockily. "Us going out was a bet, and I won. It was to see if our school's quiet hot blonde pitcher has kissed anyone before. All my friends said you did. But I said no. Who would want to kiss an annoying teacher's pet. And I won. When you told me about your family, I almost felt bad for you. But then I realized you are an attention seeking tease. It took 5 months for me to finally convince you to do things other than kissing. And when we'd be getting somewhere, you'd stop. Finally I got what I wanted, your virginity. I'm done with the torture of being your boyfriend." He uses his fingers as air quotes on boyfriend. _

"_I never liked you." He continues. "After putting up with your shit for 5 months, the guys are finally letting me "break-up" with you. They were pitying you and so was I. So now 5 months later I have $200 and I no longer have to worry about getting caught with Angela, my real girlfriend. I'm done with your foster ass. Bye, little mermaid."_

I wake up with tears streaming down my face. I hold in my loud sobs and silently cry myself back to sleep.

_I'm in a white room with a tv in it. It statics then turns on by itself. I see the car accident playing on repeat. I shut my eyes but they start screaming for me. I press my hands over my ears but I still hear them. Mid-scream, it stops. I open my eyes and uncover my ears hesitantly. I see me walking through high school everyone laughing at me calling me a dumb bitch and a teacher's pet. I push my hands over my ears but my eyes stay stuck open. _

_My hands fall from my ears and I'm stuck listening and screaming. My throat hurts but that doesn't stop me from screaming. The tv stops and I'm now on a table with my wrists tied down. The pressure keeps coming and ankles are now tied down. I thrash around but I'm still held down. A tv on the ceiling comes on and I see Finn, Katniss, Peeta, and Prim get in a car. I stop screaming and watch. The car gets set on fire by Cato, and he laughs evilly. _

"_HELP US!" They all scream together. I scream for them as loud as I can but they don't hear me. They all start to burn and catch on fire. They all scream in pain, and it all stops when the car blows up. I still hear their screams. All of them. My mom. Dad. Shelly. Katniss. Prim. Finnick. Peeta. They all scream. All their voices mix together and burn my ears. I scream as loud as I can. I feel like my throat is getting ripped out. I start thrashing against the binding and I start to cry. The binding is released and now I'm actually myself, I realize, as I'm slammed into my room wall at my first "home". I'm not looking at the tv anymore, I'm in it. I'm living in my memories. My "brother" is yelling at me for not cleaning the house and breaking the vase. I start screaming when he slaps me across the face. _

"_You are so fucking stupid for breaking our vase. MY mom took it out on ME, when YOU broke it!" He squeezes my wrists and I feel the pain. "I had clean it up. YOU broke it. I got grounded because I wasn't there to stop your pathetic ass from breaking it. Also, I can't go FUCKING out because of YOU. I have to baby sit YOU!"_

_"Fuck you bitch. There's no one to hear you scream now. No one's home!" He cackles as he throws me over his shoulder, kicking and screaming. His feet pound through the house and he stomps down the stairs into the basement. He slams me into the wall when we reach the bottom of the stairs. I squeeze my eyes shut when I feel his breath running across my neck and behind my ear. I think Titus forgot to take his medication today, just my luck. "What a shame." He breathes into my ear. "We could have had so much." His hands slither down to my waist as I'm tossed over his shoulder again. I scream and cry and beg and he doesn't put me down. I'm dropped and I move to run but he hooks his fingers through my belt loops pulling me flush to him. I whimper and a few more tears escape my eyes when he turns me around and pushes me into the wall. My hands get tied behind my back and a hankie is shoved in my mouth and tied in a knot behind my head. "Too bad you're too young for me." Thank god I was 16 and he was 19. That's the last light I see for the next 7 1/2 hours. I'm pushed into to closet with no way to get out. I hear the click of the lock and the slide of an object put outside the door. I whimper and struggle to get free in the pitch black and fail miserably. I can't even move an inch. I fell on my hands. I start to see thing moving around in the dark and I tell myself it's just my eyes playing a trick on me. I close my eyes and I see my sisters face. I see her and my family crash over and over again. I feel things crawling all over me and I try to itch. I can't move my hands and I just butt scoot over to the wall, finding something sharp against the bottom. I guess it's a nail and I rub my wrists over it over and over again, finally freeing my hands from the binding. I undo the hankie and I itch everywhere as the crazy spots in my vision get bigger and bigger. I crawl over to the door and scratch. I try to scream but my voice won't allow me to. I dig my nails into the wood and pull down. I alternate between scratching myself and the door, the crawlers won't go away. I need to get out of here. My heart race picks up and the next thing I know is me waking up still in the closet. My heart beat is sluggish and my throat burns. I search for a way out. My hands come across the nail, and I pull it out easily. I pick at the lock with the nail for a while and finally I hear that happy click. I creak open the door and quietly move the box out of the way. The only light in the basement is the light of the moon drifting through the small basement window. I pad across the floor in my socks and stand on the couch and open the window with bloody and broken nails. I have my upper body out the window when I feel a hand on my leg, pulling me back in. I scream as loud as I can I kick the person off my leg._

"_O_o_m_p_h."_

"_Annie_ wake_ up. _It's _okay. _You're _fine. _We're_ okay." The voice is all mixed up and scratchy._

"_Annie,_ please, _wake _up." _Another voice says._

_I'm pulled back into the basement when the police sirens reach my ears, and I land on my stomach knocking all the air out of me._

I shoot up, breathing heavily, and covered in sweat. I see four familiar faces staring at me, worried. Katniss and Prim let go of my wrists and Peeta and Finnick let go of my ankles. I start to cry. My throat is on fire and I keep trying to say "Sorry." I couldn't even understand myself, so I doubt they could. I'm sorry for waking you up. I'm sorry for making you get out of bed. I'm sorry for having you drive over here in the middle of the night, because I was screaming and couldn't be woken up. I'm sorry for making you worry. I'm sorry for you being called in the middle of the night by my best friend who was freaking out because I wasn't waking up. Because I was screaming non-stop. Because I was screaming all your names. I'm sorry for scaring the shit out of you. My eyes say all of those. They settle me down with soothing words comforting me and saying that everything's okay.

"Shhhh. Annie. It's okay, it doesn't matter. We're here, we're you're friends. We all-" Finn said in a soothing voice that cracks at the end.

"Ann, it doesn't matter we all love you. It's not a big deal. You can wake me up any night and I'll be fine with it. It's okay Annie. You don't have to be sorry." Katniss says while Prim keeps smoothing my hair.

Peeta tells me, "Annie, it's okay. We had to hold you down cuz you were flailing and weren't calming down. If it makes you feel any better, I'm the one you kicked." He rubs his stomach. I smile slightly through my tears. I always hurt him when I'm sleeping.

"Ann, stop crying. We're all okay. You're okay." Katniss tells me wiping away my tears.

I wrap my arms around my legs and curl myself into a ball. Tears slowly leak out my eyes as my chest aches in pain. I feel like I can't breathe and I struggle for each breath. I lay in that position staring off for hours until I hear Prim telling me that she made my coffee and that its after 10. The whole time Finn rubbed my back and Katniss and Peeta lied at the bottom of my big bed. I deserve this pain, I deserve to be alone.

I force my aching body up and out of bed when they all leave the room. I throw on black skinny jeans, hang off shoulder pink shirt that says "Love" on it, and my black converse. I straighten my hair and put on make-up to bring out my eyes. I stick to my morning schedule that I do every day after my run. I make my way into the kitchen 20 minutes after they woke me up. I sit on the stool in front of the island and Prim handed me my coffee, 6 spoonfuls and everything.

"Thanks." I say quietly. That was honestly the worst nightmare I ever had and I'm so embarrassed. I hate having people look at me like that. Even though they are like my family, -no they are my family- I don't want them to see me like that. Whatever. It's done and over with. I can't change it now though.

"Let's go. I'll drive." Peeta says. We all get in his navy blue pickup truck, him and Finnick in the front, and me and Katniss in the back. She takes out her phone and types and message but doesn't send it. She hands me her phone and it says:

**Annie, are you okay? **

I type back on my phone:

**I'm fine. I'm just tired and I didn't want you guys to see me like that. It's embarrassing and I hate crying.**

Katniss reads it and nods her hand in understanding. She says:

**I know you do, Ann. And you don't have to feel bad about it, we're your family. We'll always be there for you. **

I type her back as we pull into school:

**I know.**

Katniss walks with me and Finnick to our lockers because hers is on the way there. Me and Katniss's lockers are in the science wing, Katniss's is in the hallway connecting to ours, and Peeta's is by the gym, which is across campus from our lockers. We all meet by the courtyard near Katniss's every day.

"See ya soon guys." Peeta says smiling, taking the hallway to the right that leads to his locker. We wave and keep walking.

"What classes do we have today?" I ask Finn.

He replies, "Photography and Math." I nod my head and keep silent.

Finn and I turn left down the second hallway on the left when Katniss walks straight to the courtyard. She's lucky; her locker has a courtyard where she could cut through the hallways.

Finnick puts his arm over my shoulder and I lean into him. "You okay, Ann?"

"No, I feel like shit. I'm tired and sad. That was the worst nightmares ever." I say frowning as I remember my nightmares. My family and my friends/family dying; and Cato making me feel stupid, small and worthless. It's true though, I am worthless.

Finnick nods his head sadly, and we reach our lockers. I open my locker, not remembering the numbers. The numbers are something like: 25-27—7-8—49. I only remember the last number… Whoops. Whatever, it works this way so I'm going to stick with it. I put my camera and camera bag in my purse, and grab my math binder and textbook, and shut my locker.

Finnick says, "Ugh shit! Shit shit shit shit shit!"

"What?" I say smiling. I find it funny when he curses. I shouldn't be saying anything because I curse all the time. But when Finnick curses, it makes me smile. Don't ask me why, it does.

Finnick grabs the note out of his locker and hands it to me. He slams his locker door, and picks up all his stuff off the floor. I read the note.

_Finn,_

_Hey, I miss you so much. Text me and we should really go out sometimes._

_Love, Enobaria 3_

Shit. I'm just pissed right now. Love Enobaria… She likes him, which is obvious, but I don't know how Finnick feels. I just got to put my feelings aside and agree with what he wants. He looks at me waiting for an answer.

"Well, first things first, who's Enobaria?" I ask giving it back to him.

He grumbles, crumbling up the paper and shooting it in the garbage. Finnick says, "She's the school whore and I went out with her senior year in high school. She' so fucking annoying and I broke up with her cuz she was cheating on me with my buddy. I honestly was happy with me and her breaking up, but now she won't leave me alone. She spends more time trying to be with me now then she did when we were going out. I can't even. Ugh."

"Well, I think you should either try to ignore her completely." I say. "Or you should just go out with her again. Like take her on a date. If it doesn't work out, tell her that, but if you like her again, go out with her." I really don't want him to go out with her but I want him to be happy though.

"Okay, I'll try that; I just want her to leave me alo—"

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY! HUH?" I heard Peeta yell. Not yell, scream.

"Oh, fuck." I mumbled. Finn and I took off to the sound of Peeta's angry voice. I have never heard him this angry before. In fact, he's usually never angry. He's the calm one out of us.

I stop short when I see the position of Peeta. He has Marvel up against the lockers with his forearm against Marvel's neck. Katniss is sitting on the floor tearing a little. I drop all of my books and run over to her. I sit down next to her and try to comfort her even though I have no clue what the fuck is going on.

"Kat, what happened?" I ask.

"I was waiting for you guys to come and Marvel came up and—"

"Your girlfriend is a fucking skank, who is sleeping around." Marvel seethes. Katniss flinches at his words, shaking her head.

"No she's not. You're just fucking pissed because when you asked her to go to the slag heap with you, she said no. And why the fuck would you try to kiss my girlfriend after she specifically said no!" Peeta yells, his face red with anger. "Then I fucking saw you go and feel her up and basically push her up against the lockers to do _that_ with her. How does that mean she is a skank?" He punches Marvel in the jaw. "You're a fucking prick. Never talk or even look at her ever again. You got that?" He lets go of Marvel after punching him in the stomach. Marvel crumples to the ground, holding his stomach as Peeta drops down next to Katniss and says in his normal voice, "I'm so sorry, baby."

Katniss puts her hands on both of Peeta's cheeks and gives him a short kiss on the lips. "Don't be sorry, he's an asshole. Thanks for saving me. I love you." She says letting go of him, after one more kiss. He wipes away her tears with the pads of his thumbs, and helps her up from the floor.

"I love you, too." Peeta says lovingly.

"Let's get to class before we're even more late." Finnick says.

"Okay let's go." Katniss says grabbing Peeta's hand. We all walk down the same hallway to our Photography and Journalism classes. They are right across the hall from each other. Finn stops short and his breathe hitches as he sees a girl walking toward us. She runs her hand up and down his arm.

"Hi, Finn." This girl purrs in what's supposed to be a sexy voice. This fucking whore! Who does she think she is! She's wearing a tight shirt that ends two inches below her belly button and has her boobs popping out and is wearing skinny jeans with uggs, which isn't that bad. But seriously, she looks like she's wearing a middle school girl's shirt. And why is she rubbing his arm?

"Hi Enobaria." Finnick says stiffly. So this is Enobaria… Okay then.

"So I was just wondering" She says still rubbing his arm. "if you want to go out with me sometimes. We can get something to eat, then we can go back to my place."

"Umm." He says, looking uncomfortable. She has to back off. He doesn't like her and he wants her to leave him alone. She should keep her hands off my Finn. Wait, my Finn… I'll deal with that later. But ugh, she's really pissing me off.

She whispers something in his ear and bites it lightly. Finn's face gets all red as she starts to feel him up. He isn't doing anything to stop her. This is fucking annoying. Doesn't she see that we are all standing right here? I look over to Katniss and I notice she's looking at me warningly. I'm using all my self-control to not grab this bitch's hair and pull her on the floor.

"Umm, can you please stop that?" Finnick says trying to push her away.

"I know you want me baby." Enobarisa says, pushing him up against the lockers. She closes the distance between them and kisses him on lips. I see red as she kisses him. I pull her back using her hair and kick her in the back of the knees so she falls face first on the ground.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I say, pulling her back up with her hair. "He told you no, so leave him alone. I'm not having a good day okay? I don't want to deal with this shit right now." I push her back.

"I'm trying to get my boyfriend back." Enobaria says jutting out her hip. She gets in my face and says, "What are you gonna do about it. You are such a little prick. Don't try to stop me, cunt."

"You're calling me a prick and a cunt?" I get back in her face. "At least I'm not a slut and I don't throw myself at guys I want to be with."

She goes to slap me and I catch her hand and, and push her forehead back. She stumbles back a few feet, and marches back up to me. She claws at me with her ridiculous nails and slaps my left cheek. I slap her back and she jumps on me, bringing me to the floor. She digs her sharp nails into me, and I roll her off me and punch her in the stomach. She lays there holding her stomach when I get up. Taylor looks at me and I notice she's trying not to laugh. She squeaks and starts laughing. I smile at her laughing because me and her are probably the only people who would laugh at this situation. My smile drops when I see Enobaria stand up.

"What are you laughing at bitch?" Enobaria says, standing in front of Katniss.

"I'm laughing at you. And seriously Bar, don't call me a bitch cuz you don't know me, bitch." Katniss says, not caring.

Enobaria puts on her "mean" face and gets in Katniss's face. "I don't take shit from no one. And don't call me Bar."

"Get out of my face, whore." Katniss says pushing her away from her. Enobaria pushes Katniss back, and Katniss's face gets serious.

"You do not want to mess with me."

"Oh yeah." Enobaria pushes her again.

"Yeah." Katniss says. Katniss pushed her back and Enobaria stumbles a bit. Katniss quickly punches her in the face, the nose exactly, and spins her around and slams her into the lockers face first. Katniss lets go of her and picks up her books like nothing happened. I smile as Enobaria stays on the floor.

I keep my slight smile and say, "Let's get to class."

Katniss and I go to the bathroom to fix our hair before we go to class. "That was fucking crazy! Annie you beat her ass."

I smile at her. "Yeah. And you did you! She's such a fucking whore. I can't believe she was doing that to Finnick. How did he go out with her in high school?"

"He went out with her?"

"Yeah, and he broke up with her because she was cheating on him with his friend. Now he just wants her to leave him alone." I say brushing my hair.

"Wow, ya know what. I'm happy we beat her up. I don't think she'll go after him after that."

"I hope not." I say putting my brush in my purse.

"Ann, you were so jealous. You looked like you wanted to shoot her." Katniss says picking up her books.

"I did!"

"Yeah me too." She says walking out the bathroom with me following her.

The guys are leaning against the wall waiting for us.

Finnick smiled at us, "Hey wanna skip today's classes. We're already 45 minutes late so we should just have fun and not go."

I look at Katniss and Peeta and see them nodding their heads.

"Let's do it."

We all get in the car and drive to the guy's apartment.

"We should watch Mama." Peeta said. "We got it on Netflix and I wanna watch it. It's scary, so be prepared. It's about two little girls who lived in the woods for over 5 years and their parents are gone. They are found and their dad's brother takes them in. And this weird lady haunts them."

"Okay let's watch it. I'll make us popcorn." Finnick says walking to the kitchen.

"I'm sitting in the middle with Annie." Katniss says. In scary movies, we always sit next to each other and hold hands. Our hand holding is weird though. She sits to my left and we hold each other's right hands with our pinkies out of it. It's comfy and it works for us. Finnick comes back in and sits on my right and Peeta sits on the other side of Katniss.

The movie starts and I'm flinching at intense parts.

"Don't open the closet! Get out and leave!" I say to the girl on screen. She opens the closet but doesn't see her. Annabelle turns around when Victoria comes in. Felicia's face pops up behind Annabelle and I squeeze Taylor's hand.

"Don't look at her." Victoria says. Lily whispers "Mama," and turns around. Felicia chases after them!

"She told you not to turn around." Katniss says to the tv.

The movie ends with Felicia and Lily jumping off the cliff.

"What the fuck? Why would she go with that scary ass lady? She should've chose her sister!" I say when the movie ends. "But it was really good."

"Yeah." Peeta says.

"Yeah. Holy shit I just remembered something!" Finnick says smiling.

"What?" Katniss, Peeta, and I ask.

"Spring break starts next week! We have no classes starting this Thursday for a whole week and a day!" Finnick says excited.

"How did I not know that?" Katniss asks.

"Holy fuck! This is great!" I say happy. I need a break.

"Oh I knew that." Peeta says. "Well, I found out this morning. You know Thresh?"

"Yeah." Katniss says. Finnick and I nod.

"Yup. He's having a party at his house and he texted me about it this morning and he was talking about spring break. Anyway, he invited me and told me to bring you guys to the party he's throwing at his house. Everyone's gonna be there this Friday. He wanted to have it Thursday but we have practice. Well, all the school's team has practice that morning and none Friday. So, we're going right?" Peeta says.

"Yeah." Katniss smiles. "What time is gonna start?"

"7."

"Okay." I say standing up. I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge, and pull out salami, ham, the block of cheddar cheese, and turkey. I open the bread cabinet and grab the loaf of Italian bread.

"Yo, don't forget about us, Ann." Finnick says from the couch. I smile and grab four plates. I make their sandwiches. Katniss's has just ham. Finnick's has salami, ham, and turkey. And Peeta's has turkey and ham. I put Italian dressing on each of their sandwiches and slide them to the side. I start my sandwich if you can call it that. I cut my piece of bread off the loaf and slice it in half. I put three pieces each of salami, ham, and turkey on my plate and butter my bread. Lastly, I cut myself some cheddar cheese, and put everything away. I grab two cans of Root Beer, one for me and one for Katniss, a Coke for Peeta, and a Sprite for Finnick. I give them their sandwiches and soda, and I sit between Katniss and Finn with my plate of meat, bread and cheese.

"Tghanskcs Amnmkrie." Katniss says with her mouth full.

"No prob, Kat." I say picking up a piece of turkey. I take a bite and go to take a sip of my soda. "Shit." I mumble. It's in my right hand, turkey in my left, and I need a third hand. That's what teeth are for. I pop the tab with my teeth and push it back with my tongue. I sip on my soda and eat my meat and bread. I finish and eat the cheddar cheese.

"We should go to the mall." I say to Katniss. "I wanna get a new outfit for the party."

"Yeah we should!" Katniss says finishing her sandwich. Finnick and Peeta are still eating theirs. I pick up my plate and Katniss's, and take Finnick's plate from his hand. He gives me a look saying "give that back" because it still has his sandwich on it. I put our plates under his and hand it back to him.

Finnick puts on a cocky smile of triumph and sits back down. Katniss gives him the 'you better hurry the fuck up before I rearrange your face" look, Peeta just laughs at Katniss's expression and I just stare. I give him my awkward stare that makes people squirm in there seat.

Finnick, after a few moments, looks around and smiles sheepishly. "I think I'm done."

"FINALLY!" We all say.

We all climb into Peeta's pick-up truck, me and Finnick into the back, Katniss in the front and Peeta driving. Peeta starts the car and turns the radio on.

"I don't see how you can hate from outside of the cub. You can't even get in. Hahaha. Leggo." We all look at each other and start rapping.

"Yellow model chick, yellow bottle sipping Yellow Lamborghini, yellow top missing Yeah, yeah, that shit look like a toupee _I get what you get in ten years, in two days__  
__Ladies love me, I'm on my cool J__, _If you get what I get, what would you say? _She wax it all off, Mr. Miyagi._And them suicide doors, hari kari." Katniss raps Chris Brown.  
"Look at me now, look at me now. _Oh, I'm getting paper__. _Look at me now, oh look at me now. Yeah, fresh than a motherfucker." We all rap.  
Peeta then goes. "Lil nigga bigger than gorilla 'cause I'm killing every nigga that try to be on my shit, _Better cuff your chick if you with her, I can get her a_nd she accidentally slip and fall on my dick Oops, I said on my dick, I ain't really mean to say on my dick, but since we talking about my dick, All of you haters say hi to it, I'm done."  
"Ayo Breezy, Let me show you how to keep the dice rolling when you're doing that thing over there, homie," I start. "LET'S GO! 'Cause I feel like I'm running and I'm feeling like I gotta get away, get away, get away, _Better know that I don't and I won't ever stop 'cause _You know I gotta win everyday day, go. See they don't really wanna pop me, _Just know that you will never flop me__, _And I know that I can be a little cocky, no, You ain't never gonna stop me. _Every time I come a nigga gotta set it, then I gotta go and then I gotta get it, then I blow it and then I gotta shudder it any little thing a nigga think that he be doing._'Cause it doesn't matter 'cause I'm gonna dadadada _Then I'm gonna murder everything and anything, a badaboom a badabing, I gotta do a lot of things and make it clearer to a couple niggas that I always win_And I gotta get it again and again and again." I take the deep breath with the song. "And I be doing it to death _And now I move a little foul, a nigga better call a ref._Everybody know my style and niggas know that I'm the best when it comes to doing this and I'm banging on my chest _and I bang in the east and I bang in the west And I come to give you more and I never give you less You will hear it in the street or you can read it in the press._Do you really wanna know what's next? Let's go. See the way we all in it, we all up in the race _And you know we gotta go, don't try to keep up with the pace,_and we struggling and hustling, and sending in and getting in, _And always gotta take it to another place. _Gotta taste it and I gotta grab it, _And I gotta cut all through his traffic Just to be at the top of the throne better know that I gotta have it, have it."__  
_ "Look at me now, look at me now. Oh, I'm getting paper. Look at me now, oh look at me now. Yeah, fresh than a mother fucker." All of us rap.  
Finnick raps the Lil Wayne part. "Man, fuck these bitch ass niggas, how y'all doing? I'm Lil Tunechi, I'm a nuisance, I go stupid, I go dumb like the Three Stooges. I don't eat sushi, I'm the shit, no I'm pollution, no substitution. Got a bitch that play in movies in my jacuzzi, pussy, juicy, _I never gave a fuck about a hater, got money on my radar. Dress like a skater, got a big house, came with a elevator._You niggas ain't eating, fuck it, tell a waiter. Marley said shoot 'em, and I said okay. _If __you wanted bullshit then I'm like olay._I don't care what you say, so don't even speak. Your girlfriend a freak like Cirque Du Soleil. That's word to my flag, and my flag red. _I'm __out of my head, bitch, I'm outta my mind, from the bottom I climb__. _You ain't hotter than mine, nope. Not on my time and I'm not even trying. What's popping Slime? Nothing five. And if they tripping, fuck 'em five. _I ain't got no time to shuck and jive__. _These niggas, they sweet as pumpkin pie. Ciroc and Sprite on a private flight. _Bitch I'm enticing guiding light. And my pockets white and my diamonds white, and my mommas nice and my daddy's dead._You faggots scared 'cause I'm too wild, been here for a while. I was like fuck trial. I puts it down, I'm so young money, if you got eyes, look at me now, bitch."  
"Look at me now, look at me now. Oh, I'm getting paper. Look at me now, oh look at me now. Yeah, fresh than a motherfucker."

I do my little dance. "Okay, Okay. Is that right? I'm fresher than a mother fucker."

"This song brings back so many memories." I say smiling.

"Like what?" Peeta asks.

"In 8th grade, when I was at dance-"

"I didn't know you did dance." Finnick says.

"Yeah. I started when I was really young. I stopped after-" I swallow thickly. I always did dance with my sister, and 8th grade was my first year dancing without her. She stopped because she was the oldest there. "Anyway, so I was in my 4th or 5th year of hip hop, and we moved to the bigger room with no mirror. Like the room we were supposed to be in had mirrors and was the dance studio and it had ballet bars in it. That was used for all the dance classes. And across the hall there was a room that was bigger, and it was used for like aftercare? I don't know but my dance studio was right next to the library. And there was an air hockey table, mats folded and pushed to the side, and foam balls everywhere in the room. And I always danced in my socks, but at the recital, I danced in all black converse. So I'm in my socks, and there's foam ball in my way. So what do I do? I kick it away from me and then start whatever move I was trying to do. Well, like a klutz, I lost my balance when I kicked the ball and I fell flat on my ass. I fucking hurt! I fell on the wood floor and I would have smashed the back of my head on it but I stopped myself by putting my hands out behind me. So the next day, my ass and wrist hurts, and….. It just wasn't fun. When I got up from the floor, I was laughing hard though. It was funny, I would have laughed if it was one of them. Oh, and that song was stuck in my head."

They all laugh and I laugh too. It's a funny memory now. We all quiet down after a little while. "Annie, remember that time at ice skating? When we fell?" Katniss said. I start laughing. That was funny.

"When was that?" Finnick asks.

"We were in 7th grade and we went ice skating every Friday night during the winter. And we were holding hands like we always do, and Annie fell and she brought me down with her. We tried to get up but there were people everywhere and we weren't by the wall, so we kept falling in the middle of getting up. So we caused a domino effect, everyone falling behind us. It was so funny but horrible." We all laugh again. "But remember Mario..." Katniss says smiling widely.

"HAHAHAA!" I laugh. I laugh until I snort and my stomach hurts. Katniss laughs loudly with me. Peeta and Finnick look at us like we're crazy. I hold my stomach as my muscles contract with laughter. I wipe the tears from my eyes and explain. "In 8th grade, this kid named Mario scared Katniss everyday while we were walking into school. So one time when we were ice skating, she wanted to scare him back. So we skated up behind him and Kat yelled 'Ah' behind him as she pushed at his back. He jumped and fell on him ass." I take a minute to calm my upcoming laughter. "So for the next two weeks, Mario kept scaring her and it was sooo funny."

"I remember in elementary school, at one of the long ass assemblies, I was sitting criss cross apple sauce on the floor for a long time. And my whole right leg was numb. Like I physically didn't know it was there. I was so numb it lost all feeling. So anyway. When it ended, I went to get up using that leg, and I fell on my face. Like legit, I fell on my face. My face connected with the floor. Thank god I was toward the back of the room and only a few people saw me. I was so embarrassed." I say, shaking my head at my idiot 3rd grade antics.

They laugh. Finnick says, "I remember in high school, freshman year, I was playing Truth or Dare with my friends. And I wanted to bring some action into the game because there was nothing my friends didn't know about me and someone else could over hear me saying the truth I got. So I picked Dare. It was so embarrassing. I had to put something in my pants that made it look like I had a hard on, and I had to walk around the whole lunch room, the perimeter and weave between and around every table, and then go in front of the podium where everyone could see me and announce that I always got off thinking about our math teacher. She was horrible and everyone hated her. And it was so bad. Everyone was staring at me, laughing. And my friends all were red faced and crying because they were laughing so hard. No one let me live that down. But I became King of the Dares to my friends."

I picture a younger Finnick walking around a lunchroom like that. I laugh and grip my stomach.

"Come on Peeta. Now you have to say one." Katniss says poking her boyfriend's arm.

"Uhhh…" Peeta hesitates.

"Come on. Pleeeeeaaaassee." Katniss begs.

"Yeah, pleaaase." Finn and I beg in synchronization.

Peeta sighs. "Fine. Okay so. When I was moving into my apartment this summer, I was stuck in traffic, and my song came on. So I started to dance and sing loudly in my car. And I guess I left my windows open, and the people in the cars surrounding me heard me and they all stared at me and laughed. There was an old couple shaking their heads at me."

Finnick and I smile. Peeta always does that. I notice Katniss keeping a straight face even though there's amusement dancing in her eyes. "Baby we all know you do that all the time. Tell us something that not a lot of people know."

"Umm. Okay. This happened when we were all seniors in high school. When I was… um… jerking off after school once, and I forgot to lock my door. My brother Rye came home and was looking for me. He walked in my room, without knocking, and saw me with my pants around my ankles and in the middle of stroking myself." Peeta's ears turn red along with his face with embarrassment.

I burst out laughing as Peeta finishes his story. My face turns red from laughing, and I rock myself back and forth in my seat, clapping my hands together in amusement. As I breathe in, I snort. We all laugh and tears come out of my eyes. We finally calm down, and I notice we are pulling into the parking lot for Grafonzien Shopping Center. We all climb out of the pick-up and enter the mall.

"Where do you wanna start?" Peeta asks, interlocking his fingers with Katniss's. He's still trying to fight off the embarrassment from sharing his story.

"Let's start at Delia's then go to Charlotte Russe." I say.

Katniss finishes, "Then we could go to the food court and finish up at Joyce Leslie's."

By the time we are leaving the mall, our stomachs are full of Chinese food and Katniss and I have outfits for the party. Katniss is going to wear dark wash jean short shorts, her old black combat boots, a pink tank top covered in black lace, silver ball stud earrings, and a silver long necklace that has matching silver balls throughout the chain. I'm going the wear cut-off white jean short shorts, a peach see-through shirt with a ripped back and a white bando, big silver hoops, and my silver key necklace.

The guys drop us off and we walk in the house at 9:37. I take a shower as Katniss goes for her run. I walk out of the bathroom with my hair in a towel and in my robe. I grab a glass from the cabinet and fill it up with water. By the time I finish the glass and start to wash it, Katniss walks through the door.

"How was your run?" I ask as I dry the glass.

"Peeta and I had a race, and I won." Katniss says, smiling proudly.

"Woo!" I say giving her a high five.

"I can't wait to see Peeta's game tomorrow." Katniss says breaking into her water bottle.

"Me too. This is their first game that we can actually watch." I say. "What's their score."

"5-1. What's ours?" Katniss asks.

"That's really good." I smile. "I think ours is something like 6-2."

"Our team works so good together." Katniss says throwing her bottle in the recycling bin.

"Yeah we do."

"I'm going in the shower." Katniss says.

"Okay. Night." I say.

"Night." Katniss shuts the bathroom door.

I walk to my room and lay down in my bed. Fuck, I left the door cracked open. I can't go to bed with it like that. I peel my covers off me and I shut the door all the way. I lie back down in bed and close my eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

_I'm laying on my beach with my eyes shut in my home town. Not many people know this quiet, peaceful spot on the beach, but I know it's here. So does my sister and Katniss. Its hidden by a few sand dunes. I run my fingers through the burning sand and inhale the salty smell of the ocean. The cool breeze contradicts the heat surrounding me. I open my eyes as I sit up, cracking my back. I lean back onto my elbows, closing my eyes and I flick my head around so my belly button length hair rests on my shoulders. The sand shifts around me and I feel a feather-light touch pushing my hair behind my ear. I hold my breath as the hand ghosts across my cheekbone and down my neck. It slides down my left arm and comes back up to rest on my neck. The thumb brushes lightly across my lips and I sigh at the action. The hand moves so its cupping my cheek. I open my eyes a bit and all I see is bronze and green. I smile widely as I recognize Finnick._

_"Hey, Annie." Finnick says, stroking my cheek bone. He's leaning forward on his knees to my left._

_"Finn." I smile, sitting up. He stands up, holding out his hand. I take it and he pulls me up, lacing our fingers together. We walk down the beach with water lapping at our feet, hand in hand, in a comfortable silence._

_"Annie." Finnick stops walking. I turn to him. "I have something to tell you."_

_I say in a quiet voice, "Okay."_

_Finn clears his throat, grabbing my other hand. He pauses, shifting foot to foot nervously. I gently squeeze his hands. "Finn, it's okay. Just tell me."_

_"Okay." He swallows, his Adams apple bobbing. "Annie, I like you. Like- I _like_ you."_

_"Finn, me too. I like you too." I say looking into his beautiful eyes. His face breaks out into a huge smile and he wraps his arms around my waist, lifting me up, spinning around in a circle. I laugh as a wave splashes up around us. He puts me down and cups my face in his hands, pressing his lips to mine. I react immediately, kissing him back. I curl my hands into fists in his shirt, pulling him close to me, as his fingers knot in my hair. We pull apart for air after a few minutes. I rest my forehead against his, breathing heavily. Finnick grins widely and I match his smile easily._

I wake up still smiling with a warm tingling feeling everywhere. I sit there smiling for a minute before reality sinks in. That's not my Finn. My Finn doesn't feel that way about me. He's not even mine. All the warmth from my body is sucked out and my smile disappears.

I pull myself out of bed and trudge to the bathroom. I turn on the light and I'm blinded. I jump like I got electrocuted and turn the light off quickly. I go pee, wash my hands, and fall back into bed. I roll on my side and look at the clock. 3:29 am. I shove my pillow over my face and groan quietly. Why can't I just wake up at a normal time like a normal human being? I kick off my covers when my eyes won't shut. I feel my way over to my dresser and take off my pajamas. I throw them on my bed and put on a sports bra and short shorts. I pull my softball sweatshirt over my head after I slide my feet in my piggy slippers.

I lie down on the floor and do 20 sit ups, 20 scissors, 20 crunches, and 10 seconds of stretching on each leg. When I finish, my stomach muscles are twitching and my legs are loose. I slide quietly into the kitchen at 4:02 and pour myself a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch. I munch on my cereal and grab at my phone and iPod that rest on my hip in the waistband of my shorts. I unlock my iPod and put it on shuffle. I'm back by Eminem is on. I put my bowl in the sink and lie down on the couch. I throw my right arm over my eyes, as my left rests on my stomach holding my iPod. I hope to doze off but I'm not that lucky. I lay in the same position until 5:30, when I lace up my running sneakers and head out for my run. I check my phone and I have a new message. It's from Finnick.

**I'm not gonna do the run today. Go without me.**

I frown before texting him back.

**Okay.**

I jog out of the apartment. As soon as the cold wind hits my face, I feel relaxed. I start at a slow walk-jog and build up speed the longer I go. I'm at a fast jog soon and the early morning breeze feels great on my face, calming me. I like my morning jogs because they give me time to think and get away from everything that's bothering me. I don't get that offer a lot because my life is hectic right now. I feel the light pain in my legs as they pound on the cement. My breathing picks up and I feel the burn in my lungs as they suck in the cold air surrounding me. I run for a while longer and decide to get back so I can shower and get ready.

I walk back into the apartment covered in sweat. I jump in the shower and wash all the sweat off my body. I change into white jean short shorts, a gold bandeau, and my grey shirt with gold weaved into it and the back is gold lace. I grab my white flip flops, walking out of my room, and I throw them from the top of the stairs, having them land right in front of the front door of our apartment. I pad my way down the stairs in sockless feet and turn on the coffee pot when I reach the kitchen. I open the fridge and stair inside for a second. I'm in the mood for cream cheese. I grab the cream cheese, shutting the fridge with my hip, and turn around to the bread drawer. I pop two halves of Italian bread into the toaster and pour my coffee into a mug. I put my usual amount of milk and sugar into it and stir. My toast dings as Katniss comes bounding down the stairs.

"Hey Ann." She says, putting her bangs in a clip.

"Hey Kat." I say cream cheesing my toast. "Ready to see Peeta's game today?" This is the baseball team's first home game that we could make it to.

"Yes!" She says excitedly. "I can't wait! He's so good! The way he hits the ball and fielding it…" She goes off rambling in a dream-like state. I chuckle to myself. She'll go on forever if I don't stop her. But I don't want to. She always gets a look that I've only seen on one other person. Prim. It's a look of pure love and adoration. Her eyes light up and a mega-watt smile is painted on her face. It makes me happy to see her this lively. After all that has happened in our lives, she has finally opened up to the world.

"Okay Katniss, I get it." I smile. I get back to my toast and wait for Prim to come down the stairs.

Katniss giggles and grabs an apple. After a few minutes, Prim comes running down the stairs with a giant smile on her face.

"What?" Katniss and I ask in unison.

"Alex is taking me out on a date Saturday! AAAAAHHHHHHH!" She jumps up and down and squeals.

"Hey! Comadown!" Katniss says in a funny Italian accent. "My ears can only take so much pain." I snort and get up to throw out my plate.

"What should I wear?" Prim asks herself as she pours herself orange juice.

I hear Katniss tap the table twice to get my attention. I look over to her and she brings up her hands to sign to me in sign language.

_Is that me when I have a date with Peeta?_

I laugh and sign _yes_

Katniss frowns. _Fuck me. That's annoying. How do you deal with me._

I smile and sign. _It's not annoying, it's funny when Prim does it. She sounds like a chipmunk. I'm happy you do that because you are finally enjoying life._

_Thanks for the message, Dr. Phil. What are we gonna do for Prim for her date? _Katniss signs back.

"Hmmm." I murmur out loud. I feel my face light up and I smile widely. I sign to Katniss._ We should help her out to get ready. Spa day, we'll do her nails and pick out something to wear for her._

Katniss smiles. _You could do her hair when I do her make-up!_

I smile again. _That's a good idea. Prim-_

"I know when you're talking about me. I know my name sign. It's the 'p' letter sign tapped on either side of your nose." Prim says rolling her eyes at us. "Don't talk about me when I'm right here."

"We gotta go to school. Come on Kat." I say quickly, grabbing my keys.

The whole day when by at a snail's pace. Finnick and I had a test in math today. When Professor Smith wasn't looking, Finn and I had a silent conversation reading each other's lips. We shared answers and talked about everything and anything. In photography, we had a substitute and we got to talk the whole class. Finally, it's time for Peeta's game. Katniss is practically vibrating in place with energy.

We sit on the bleachers as the pitcher starts his wind up. In 3rd inning Johanna, Thresh, Finch, and Thom sit down in front of us. We all talk for a while and Peeta's game flies by. He won 6 to 2.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Tayloormellark and Tinamary151D helped me write this and gave me ideas. Not all of these Truth or Dares are mine.**

**Chapter 7:**

"Come on, Ann. Hurry up!" Katniss screams from the bottom of the stairs. Today is Friday, the day of Thresh's party.

"Coming!" I yell, looking at myself in the mirror one last time. My hair is straightened and I have a little makeup on to bring out my eyes. I'm wearing my cut-off white jean short shorts, a peach see-through shirt with a ripped back and a white bandeau, big silver hoops, and my silver chain that I put my key for the apartment on with my white converse. I run down the stairs and see Katniss wearing her dark wash jean short shorts, her old black combat boots, a pink tank top covered in black lace, silver ball stud earrings, and a silver long necklace that has matching silver balls throughout the chain. We are both wearing the exact outfits we got at the mall.

"I'm right here calm your tits." I say.

"I can't. They're perky." Katniss gives a triumphant smile.

"What?!" I almost choke on my own laughter.

"I just thought of it on the spot!" Katniss says in between her giggles.

"Okay let me grab my purse and then we can head out." I run upstairs to grab my

white clutch with tiny pearls outlining the top of it.

Running downstairs, I stop abruptly and take in the sight in front of me. Finnick

leans against the railing and looks dazzling. He sports a turquoise button

down, sleeves rolled to the elbows, dark wash jeans, and leather boots. He has

that ocean scent that I love and his hair is its usual tousled self. My breath

hitches when I see that he's staring at me.

"You look amazing Annie."

"Thanks Finn." I blush crimson and walk down the rest of the stairs smiling like

a fool.

When I get down, Peeta's staring at Katniss with a goofy ass grin. "Might wanna

clean that drool Cinnamon Buns. It's unattractive." I smirk, seeing as Peeta is

embarrassed that he was caught.

Katniss just laughs and gives him a kiss. "Okay guys lets hit the road!" She

jumps and practically runs out the door.

Once in the car, Finn and me in the front and Cinnamon Buns and Katniss in the

back, Finn turns on the radio and Pop That by French Montana comes on. Katniss

and I jump into our dance and start singing along. "Pop that, pop that, don't

stop!" Katniss and I chant. Once the songs over, I realize Finn and Cinnamon

Buns have been staring at us. They both burst out into uncontrollable laughter

and shake their heads. Katniss and I just laugh it off too.

We arrive at the party a few minutes later and walk into the crowded house. I'm immediately hit by the stench of booze and sweat. We barely manage to squeeze through the large mass of people to get to the drink table. I grab some water and go over to Katniss.

"Hey, Kat!" I yell over the music.

"Annie!" Katniss yells back. "Wanna dance?"

"Sure." I finish my cup and put it on the table. Katniss and I head over to the dance floor, weaving through everyone. We jump to the beat of the music and pump our fists in the air. Finnick and Peeta find us and dance for a while. After about 10 songs, Johanna runs up to us.

"We're playing Truth or Dare in the other room. Come on! Let's go." Jo grabs me and Katniss's hands and pulls us along. Peeta and Finn follow us and we all sit down in a circle.

Finnick is on my right, Peeta is on my left, Katniss is next to Peeta, and on the other side of Katniss, is Finch. Thresh is on her left, then there's Thom, and lastly Jo, whose in between Thom and Finn.

"Whose gonna go first?" Finch asks.

"I will." Jo says. "I thought of it. We'll go in a circle. I start, then Finn goes, then Annie, Peeta, Katniss, Finch, Thresh, Thom, and when it gets back to me we all have to take a shot." She holds up a bottle of whiskey. "And no one can refuse a truth or dare, or else you have to take off a piece of clothing." Johanna starts to laugh maniacally.

"Okay. Let's start this up." Johanna lines up 8 shot glasses and fills them up to the top. We each get one and I say "Cheers" and toss it back. I swallow it all in one gulp, it burning down my throat.

Johanna looks around the group, her eyes lighting up when they stop on Katniss. "Okay, Katniss. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." Johanna's face breaks out into a smile.

"I dare you to give Peeta a boner without touching his member."

Katniss smirks and slides closer to Peeta, accepting the dare. Peeta sits there looking uncomfortable, until he hears what Katniss whispers almost inaudibly into his ear, "Come on, just forget they're here." He straightens out as Katniss pushes him back so he's laying on the floor.

She bites lightly onto his ear, dragging her teeth across his jaw and down his neck. Katniss sucks on his pulse point for a while before Peeta pulls her face up to kiss him. She tugs on his blonde curls lightly before sliding herself down his body, pulling his shirt up a bit. She alternates between kissing, licking, and sucking on the v of hipbones and kisses her way down his happy trail. Peeta moans as Katniss reaches the button of his pants, which she unbuttons with her teeth. He pulls her back up and kisses her hard. Peeta rolls them over so he's on top and he kisses down her neck. Jo pulls him off her before he could reach her collarbone.

"Okay, Mr. Boner. Calm down now. Finnick your turn." Johanna says smirking. She moves back to her spot as Katniss blushes and Peeta awkwardly buttons his pants.

"Okay, Thresh. Truth or Dare." Finnick says thinking.

"Dare." Thresh says with a straight face.

"Lick the whole length of Finch's bare foot." Finnick says leaning back on his hands.

Thresh unbuckles Finch's gladiator and licks her whole foot without flinching or making a face. He puts her shoe back on like nothing happened. I sit there with my mouth wide open. What the fuck? Thresh nods to me. "Your turn."

"Oh shit, yeah. Okay um, Cinnamon Buns, truth or dare." I say running my fingers through my hair.

"Dare." Peeta says. YES, I scream on the inside.

"I dare you to place a ice cube on Katniss's belly button and you have to keep it there 'till it melts, neither of you can use your hands. You can only keep it there with your lips."

"Ooo go Annie. How'd ya come up with that one?" Thom says as Thresh gets the ice cube. I shrug my shoulders, leaning up against Finn. He puts his chin on my head and I quietly sigh at the action. Katniss rolls up her shirt as Thresh enters the room. He hands it to Peeta, who puts it on Katniss's navel. She hisses at the contact and Peeta places his lips on the ice. We wait and wait until Katniss is squirming against the cold, Peeta is trying not laugh, and the ice cube is just water.

Katniss gives me a look, looking between me and Finn, while she rolled down her shirt. I roll my eyes at her as Peeta asks Thom Truth or Dare.

"I dare you to put on a bra, and stuff it with socks and walk around like your kind of girl." Thom grumbles and me, Katniss, Jo, and Finch get up to fix him.

Finch runs off as Thom takes off his shirt. Katniss and I get socks and Johanna works on putting Thom's ear length hair is in little ponytails all around his head. Finch runs back in the room with a bra in her hand.

"Whose is that?" Thom asks.

Finch shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. I found it on the floor in one of the bed rooms."

"You can't just do that. What happens when she needs it back?" Katniss asks.

"Then Thom can give it back to her." Finch gives her sly little smile.

"You're such a fox." I say tossing the bra to Johanna.

"Hey Foxface, help me with this." Johanna says motioning to the bra. Jo and Finch struggle to clip the bra around Thom's muscular frame, as I adjust the shoulder straps and Katniss stuffs the cups.

"How do you wear this all the time. I can't breathe." He says when we finally finish with putting on the bra and tying the tail of his shirt so it fits him like a glove.

"Get used to it buddy, you're like this 'till your turn." Katniss says patting him on the back.

"When we sit down, you come out." I say walking out of the bedroom. All us girls sit down in our spots, when Peeta calls for Thom to come out.

Thom prances out the room, balancing on the balls of his feet and swaying his hips. His elbows are bent and his wrists are cocked back into a prissy girl position. He walks around our circle once before plopping down in his spot.

"Katniss, go." Thom says tugging at his shirt.

"Jo, truth or dare." Katniss says.

"Truth."

"If you were a boy, would you make your girlfriend swallow when she gave you a blow job?" Katniss asks.

"Hell yeah, that bitch will swallow. I don't care how bad it tastes, she will swallow." Johanna says sitting up straighter, then slouching when she finishes talking.

"My turn. Annie, truth or dare?" Finch turns to me.

"Dare." I say. How bad can it be?

"I dare you answer my question and do the dare that the question is linked to. And if you don't have the thing the question is on, you have to take off a piece of clothing as a consequence."

"Uhh, okay." I say hesitating. I shift my body so my arms are wrapped around my knees.

"Do you have a crush? I mean as in do you _like _someone?" Finch asks, looking me in the eye.

Fuck me. If I lie, Finch and Katniss will know. Katniss because she knows I like him and Finch because she can tell when people are lying. It's crazy. "Yes." I say quietly. I ignore how Finnick stiffens next to me.

"Good." Finch smiles. "Now, I dare you to call the person you like and tell them that you like them. And put it on speaker phone."

My breath gets caught in my throat and I can feel my face drain of color. I feel Katniss's eyes on me as I take my phone out. Jo fills a shot glass up and hands it to me. "I think you can use this."

I toss the whiskey back and swallow.

"Give me another one." I toss the second one back and pick up my phone. Everyone leans in close, trying to figure out who I'm calling. I type the number in fast, my fingers moving in muscle memory, and I hit the send button before I stop and think about what would be changing right now. I click the speaker button, keeping my phone close to my face. As my phone rings once, I hear Finn's phone start to vibrate. _BUZZ! BUZZ!_ He takes his phone out of his pocket and I keep my eyes locked on the floor.

"Hello?" Finnick says into his phone. I guess he didn't look at caller I.D. His voice is repeated through my phone and I say as fast as I can, finishing the dare, "FinnIreallylikeyoubye."

I hang up and hide my face into my knees. I hear a few little gasps, and I take a quick little look around the silent group. Peeta and Katniss both have recognition in their eyes but look surprised I actually did it. Finch's mouth is open in shock. Thresh and Thom's eyes are wide and Jo is smirking at Finn, who looks like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth. I guess no one knew before now. I look over to Katniss for help. I don't look at Finnick because I don't want to see what he's going to say, written all over his face. Before she could do or say anything, Finn lightly grabs my chin and turns my face to him. He leans in and presses his lips to mine. My eyes stay open and I don't move. I'm frozen into place. Does he actually like me or is he just taking pity on me?

He pulls away, looking straight into my eyes and says, "I like you too, Annie." The truth is reflected off his face and that's when I'm snapped into reality. A smile spreads across my face and we both lean in again. I close my eyes as our lips touch, creating sparks. The electric feeling tingles my lips and warms my chest. I put my hands on his cheeks as he puts his on my waist, pulling me into him. His tongue traces my lips, and I open my mouth, granting him access. I touch my tongue to his and I let out a small moan at the taste of him. He tastes just like sugar, and there's a little hint of alcohol on his tongue. He tilts his head to the side to get a better angle and pulls me into his lap. He groans as move my legs so they're hooked behind his back and I wrap my arms around his neck. The lack of oxygen caused us to separate and I rest my forehead against his.

They all cheer and clap as we breathe. I get in a few more breaths before Finn connects our mouths together again.

"Let her breathe Finn." Peeta says, backhanding Finn's arm lightly. I look into Finnick's ocean green eyes and smile. His smile matches mine as he unwinds his arms from my back. I let go of him, climbing off, and I curl up into his side with a hint of a smile on my face.

"Okay then, my turn." Thresh says. "Finnick, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Finnick says.

"I dare you to make out with someone in this room for only 1 minute. If you guys go past it you both have to take an item of clothing off. Shoes and socks don't count. Something other than that." Thresh says.

Once Thresh finished talking, Finnick captured my lips with his. I run my fingers though his hair while his fingers dip into my back pockets. I straddle his lap and he pushes me down on him. Finn's kisses are causing a hunger to form in my belly. The coil tightens as his hands squeeze my ass and his tongue probes my mouth. I push his tongue back into his mouth and run my tongue over his teeth. He moans into my mouth as I slide my hands down his body, coming to trace his abs through his shirt. Finn slides his hands underneath my shirt, resting them on the small of my back. His hands start to creep up my back when I hear Thresh say, "Your minute is up." I open my eyes and ask Finn silently on what we're doing, with our lips still connected. His eyes shine and he continues the kiss with full force. I shut my eyes as he shuts his and I tilt my head to the side, deepening the kiss. His fingers tangle in my hair and I put my arms around his neck bringing us closer than before.

"Okay, I did not mean for this to happen." Thresh says awkwardly. "Come on guys, break it up." Finn and I kiss one last time before separating. A thin trail of saliva is between our lips, and I wipe my mouth, embarrassed.

"That was about 2 minutes and 40 seconds." Finn smirks when he hears the time from Katniss. I smile at him before sitting in my spot again.

"Thom, your turn." I say.

"Wait, no. Remove a piece of clothing." Johanna reminds us. Fuck, I forgot that part. I take off my shirt without hesitating. It was see-through already. I'm left in my bandeau over my bra, shorts, and shoes. Finn unbuttons his shirt, and tosses both of ours behind us. I sit in a criss cross apple sauce position, while Finn is leaning back on his hands. "Okay, now you can go Thom." Johanna tells him.

"Finch, Truth or Dare?" Thom asks.

"Truth."

"Of the people playing this game, who lost their virginity first? You have to make a list of the order. And then everyone has to say how old they were when they did."

"Okay. I'll start it from who lost it first. I say, Finn, Jo, Peeta, Katniss, Thom, Thresh, and lastly Annie. Sorry girl." She says to me. I shrug my shoulders and then put my left elbow on my thigh, bringing my hand up to my mouth. Shit, I don't want to this right now. "Let's go around the circle. Peeta you start."

Peeta smiles at Katniss, "18."

"18." Katniss smiles back at him.

"17." Thresh says.

"I was 17." Thom says.

"17." Jo smirks.

"16." Finn says looking around the circle.

I mumble the age into my hand. "What?" They ask.

"15." I say, moving my hand out of the way.

"Woooo! Go Annie! Let's do these shots!" Johanna screams. I take my shot gratefully.

"Thom, truth or dare?" Jo asks.

"Yes! Truth. I can finally do this." Thom pulls off his shirt, takes off the bra, and throws it over his shoulder. He puts his shirt back on and shakes his hair out.

"Would you ever go all the way with someone in this group?"

"Uhh." Thom says rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah."

"Who?" Jo asks.

"You didn't ask me that! Ha." Thom says pointing his finger.

"Peeta, truth or dare?" Finn asks.

"Truth."

"How old were you when you first gave and got oral."

Peeta's ears turn red as he answers. "16 to giving and 17 to getting."

I laugh at Katniss as she gives Peeta a look. I say, "Jo, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to order pizza, and when the person comes, it doesn't matter what gender, you have to ask them out. And if they say yes, you have to make out with them, then break up with them."

"Easy." Johanna says as she dials the pizza place. "You guys are paying. It's $7.99."

"Okay, I'm starving." I say.

"I'll go as we wait." Peeta says. "Annie, truth or dare?"

"Dare." I say leaning back on my hands.

"I dare you to drink whatever we give you right now. The whole glass has to be done." Peeta says.

"Okay." I shrug my shoulders. "Let's go."

A knock sounds on the door to the room we were in. "Did anyone order a pizza?" A tall muscular boy about 20 walks into the room. His Pizza Hut t-shirt has his name on it: Darius.

Peeta sneered, "Your turn Jo."

"Yeah, yeah. Give me the damn money." Johanna walked up to the pizza guy. "Hey there." She smiled looking into his shit brown eyes. "Here's the money and a little tip for your time and effort." Jo slipped an extra 3 bucks into the boy's back pocket, she patted his ass. "How about we take this to another room." Johanna placed a hand behind Darius's head. He was started to look very uncomfortable as Jo stood on her toes to kiss his jaw.

"Oh honey." Darius smiles. "You're not my type." Oh my fucking god he's gay! Johanna laughs and takes her seat. "See you around Johanna." Darius flips his hair and walks out of the room.

"He was gay!" I laugh so hard I start snorting uncontrollably into Finn's side. He laughed at my snorts. "Sorry." I blushed.

"No, I think it's cute." He kisses my nose gently.

"You still have to eat something, Ann!" Peeta chuckles.

Katniss gets up and runs to the kitchen. "I'll get something!" She comes back with a glass in her hand. "Drink up Annie!"

I took the glass in my hands. "Looks okay to me." I shrugged my shoulders. The mixture inside was definitely nasty. It consisted of ketchup, salt, flour, Pepsi, Sprite, and almond joys.

"Drink it! Drink it!" the group chanted. I chugged the glass full of sloppy mixture.

I cough as I choke on the almond joys. "That was delicious." I lick my lips in Katniss's direction. Kat sticks her tongue out at me. "You such a little shit, Katniss." She doubles over laughing uncontrollably.

"Your turn Kat!" Thresh says.

"Hmmmmm." She looks at each of us in the group. "Finn." She smiles demonically.

He looks up and wraps his arm around me. "Hit me with your best shot." He bangs on his chest.

"Truth or dare?" Katniss asks.

"Truth." Finn responds.

"How long have you liked Annie? And would you sleep with anyone in this room? If you would, who?"

"Oh shit." Slips out of Finnick's mouth. I look up at him and see he's biting his lip. "Uh, since we met. And Annie." He mumbles into my hair. I turn my head and peck his lips.

"Thresh." Finch says looking at him. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"How long is your pisha-pow?" Finch asks seriously.

"Huh?" Everybody says.

"YOUR PENIS!" Finch yells.

I burst out laughing and smack my thigh. I grab my stomach and snort. "Who measures their penis?"

All the guys faces turn red and they look away. This makes me laugh harder. I smack Finn's thigh instead of my own by accident and I fall back on the floor. I hold my stomach and laugh, kicking my feet into the air. Katniss sits there awkwardly with a red face that matches Peeta's perfectly. Johanna, I swear, was sitting there laughing as hard as I was. Finch was waiting patiently for Thresh's answer.

"Um." He says, his face going beet red. "6 1/4 inches." He looks at the floor.

"Oh my god! He has it down to the quarter inch!" Johanna bursts out laughing.

I silently laugh as best as I could into Finn's shoulder. "Compared to mine, that's nothing." Finn whispers in my ear. I bite my lip and look up at him raising my eyebrows. My stomach flutters at the way he looks at me. I look down at him and look back up making eye contact. He smiles his sexy smile and it does things to my insides.

Thresh clears his throat and says, "Katniss truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"What's your favorite body part on Peeta?"

"There's so much to love," Kat kisses his cheek. "But I like dat ass." She winks at Peeta and pinches cinnamon butt.

The group laughs. "Okay last one! Thom it's on you."

"Okay. How about Finch?"

"Truth." She says before he can even ask 'Truth or Dare'.

"What is your bra size?" Now Finch has a pretty big set of boobs.

"I have no shame! I'm a 36 DD! I REGRET NOTHING!" Finch yells, obviously more than tipsy.

We all laugh. Johanna pours us one last shot and we all toss it back. Finn stands up, pulling me up with him. He tosses me my shirt and asks, "Wanna do a keg stand with me?" I nod my head and follow Finnick through the crowd of people as he buttons his shirt up.

Finn grabs my hand a pulls me to the keg at the far corner of the loud room. "Ready?" he asks. I nod head nervously, I had never done this before."KEG STAND!" Finn screams. The crowd of people cheer in response. He lends me a hand to help me up on top of the keg, but I shake my head. I'm going to do this by myself I decide.

I turn to the waiting crowd. "PARTAAYY!" The crowd screams and I jump on top of the keg lowering myself down with hands. Finn brings the tube up to my lips and I chug the beer down my throat for at least 45 seconds. I was starting to get light headed so I jump off the keg land awkwardly on my feet. The people cheer my name and Finn grabs my face and kisses me. I could taste beer and whiskey muddled in our kisses.

"Your turn Finny!" I push Finnick towards the keg. "Need a hand?" I extend a hand laughing.

"No, I think I got this." He did a cool hand stand onto the top of the metal keg.

"Chug! Chug! Chug!" Everyone yelled. Finn's shirt slid down his upside down body. His muscular abs rippled in the low party lighting. I could tell I was shit faced because all I wanted to do was kiss and touch Finn. Every second I wasn't touching him made me want him more. After about 60 seconds he jumps off the keg.

"I guess you win. What do you get?" I peck him on the lips.

"You." He brings my face back for a second kiss. A third. A fourth. A fifth. I lose count after that.

After doing our keg stands, I find myself in the center of the dance floor, grinding with Finn. We are both sweating and panting from the heat in the room, the exertion from dancing, and the alcohol high in our blood. Finnick's hands are on my hips, keeping me against him, and he's pressing little kisses along my neck. My fingers are locked behind his neck and my ass is pressed tightly into his crotch. I roll my hips, causing him to let out a low groan in my ear.

"You gotta stop doing that to me." Finn whispers breathlessly into my ear. I roll my hips again, intentionally sliding against his hardness.

"What if I don't want to?" I say in the same voice he has, doing it again.

He smiles into my neck and thrusts against me. I swivel my hips, grinding against him. My breath catches in my throat as he sucks on my pulse point and does it again. I turn around and grab his face, pressing our lips together. His tongue pries open my lips and my tongue meets his in the middle. Finn's hands slide down from my hips and rest on my ass. I move my hands from his face to his hair, messing it up in the back. I kiss up to his ear, moving onto the balls of my feet so I can whisper, "Come on Finn, I know you can do better than that." I nip at his earlobe before licking a path down his neck.

I feel his hands move up to my sides and I let out a little squeak when he picks me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and hook my arms around his neck. I suck on his neck as he moves us off the dance floor. My back is pushed into the wall and he presses our lips together. I slide down his body and stand between his legs, my hands on his shoulders. His lips drop do my neck and I whimper. His hips keep me in place and I moan at the feeling of him against me. My head drops against the wall as Finn's lips attack my neck. I look over his shoulder and I see Peeta and Katniss talking. Katniss grabs her forehead and holds on to Peeta's arm. I see her knees shaking and I see her collapse in slow motion.

"Finn." I moan as he kisses my collarbone. "Finn, Finn." I tap his shoulders trying to get his attention. "Stop, Finn. Katniss!"

His head pops up with a slight frown and a confused expression. I point behind him, "Katniss!" She's being held up by Peeta and she can barely keep her eyes open. "Shit! Finn, Katniss!" I point again and Finn's face morphs into a expression of concern. We both run over there and Finnick yells at people to move out of the way. We get to them and I notice how worried Peeta is.

"Is she okay?" I ask the same time Finn asks, "What happened?"

"I don't know, she was just fine, then she got dizzy and weak. She was about to fall so I caught her."

"Katniss!" I yell over the noise of the party. "Katniss!" she was completely unresponsive. I check her pulse with my fingers. She was still alive. Peeta lays her on the ground and I listen to her breathing. It was coming out in short gasps. "She needs a hospital! She's not breathing good! Peeta! Call 911!" Peeta quickly jumps into action dialing 911 on his phone. Finn leans down and picks Katniss up taking her out of the crowded party room and outside to get fresh air. I hear Johanna and Thresh breaking up the party, telling everyone the cops were coming and to get home. Out of the corner of my eye I see Cato and all of his friends snickering and running out the front door. I didn't have time to wonder what they were doing here, I was too worried about Kat.

The ambulance arrived shortly and the E.T.'s lift Katniss onto a stretcher attaching an oxygen mask. Finn, Peeta, and I rush to the back of the ambulance to get in with her.

"I'm sorry. Only one person can come." I look at Peeta's pleading eyes and push him forward. He nods his head at me, a thank you response.

"How are we gonna get to the hospital? We can't drive like this!" I look around looking for help.

"There!" Finn yells, pointing in the direction of a bus.

"No, fuck no. I don't do busses. I hate them." I shake my head.

"Not even for Katniss?" Finn replies.

I sigh. "Fine! Fucking bus!" I grab Finn's hand a we run towards the bus, catching it just in time.

"Take us to Central State Hospital, please." Finnick tells the bus driver. The driver nods his head and takes our money. Finn and I move to the back of the bus and sit down. The bus pulls away and my leg starts to bounce up and down. Finnick's hand grips mine and he presses his lips to my temple. "She's gonna be alright." He whispers to me. I lean my head on his shoulder and he rests his chin on my head. I close my eyes and drift off.

"Annie, let's go. We're at the hospital." Finnick says rousing me from my short nap. I blink my eyes open and I follow Finn as he pulls me off the bus.

"Katniss Everdeen." We tell the lady at the desk.

"Room 412."

I keep close to Finn's side as we ride the elevator to the 4th floor. "Finn?"

"Yeah, Ann?" Finnick says looking down to me

"Katniss is going to be okay right?" I say looking up at him.

"Yeah, I hope so." He says pulling me into his side.

We walk down the hall, stopping in front of room 12. We find Peeta sitting outside the door.

"Hey man. What's going on?" Finnick asks sitting down next to him. I slide down the wall and sit next to Finn.

"The doctor is checking her out now. They took a blood sample and we're waiting for the results now. She definitely go drugged. That's all I know." Peeta says shaking his head. He leans his head back and stares at the wall opposite of us.

"Ahem." A person above us clears her throat. We look up and see a doctor standing above us. "I'm Dr. Fumo, Katniss's doctor. We gave her a blood test and he indeed was drugged. It was roofies. She didn't get enough for a coma and death." I release a relieved breath. "Waking up, Miss Everdeen can be drowsy, confused, and have poor reaction time. She's not going to be able to remember any events that occurred when she was under the influence. Also, she might have slurred speech, dizziness, tremors, and be nauseous. I believe that's it. Any questions?"

"Is she going to be alright?" Peeta asks.

"Yeah, sweetie. She's going to be just fine once the symptoms wear off."

Peeta nods his head. "When can she come home?" I ask.

"Tomorrow. I want to keep her overnight to make sure she's okay, and there's nothing else wrong."

"Thank you, Dr. Fumo." Finn says standing up to shake her hand. We each shake her hand and she turns and leaves us standing in the hallway. A few nurses exit Katniss's room.

One turns to us and says, "You can go in."

We enter the room and Katniss lays perfectly still with her arms on either side of her. She takes soft breathes and her heart monitor beeps steadily. Peeta pulls a chair up to Katniss's hospital bed, taking her hand into his. Finn moves the other chair so it's next to Peeta's, and motions for me to sit. I nod my head at him. "Finn, you sit."

He sits and I sit on his lap. I lean back into his chest and rest my eyes. Peeta says to us, "I'll be back. I have to go to the bathroom." I hear the door shut.

I force my eyes open and look up at Finn. "Finny?"

"Mhmm?" He hums.

"Are we gonna do this for real? Like us together?" I ask, dropping my eyes.

"I want to. Do you?" Finn says, making eye contact with me.

"Yes!" I exclaim. He chuckles at me. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You're adorable. So you wanna make this official?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

"Yes." I smile up at him. He smiles big and pecks my lips. I shift my body so my legs are across Finn's thighs and they're dangling off the armrest of the chair. I place my right hand on his chest and keep the other in my lap. I tuck my head into his neck and sigh happily when he wraps his arms around me. I close my eyes when Finn rests his head on mine. I fall asleep surrounded in Finnick's warmth.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

I wake up with my heart pounding and I push everything off me. I can't breathe, I feel like I'm getting strangled. I sit up so fast I fall off of

Finn's lap. He snaps awake and catches me before I crash to the floor.

"Annie, are you okay?" Finn asks softly, bringing me back up to his chest.

I feel my eyes well up and I shake my head no.

"Shh, babe. It's okay. What happened?" He rubs my back. I sniffle and try to talk but my voice squeaks and refuses to work. A few tears drop from my

eyes, and Finn wipes them off my cheeks using the pads of his thumbs. Peeta stirs slightly, still holding Katniss's hand. His neck is bent and his chin is

touching his chest, as he slouches in the chair. Katniss hasn't moved this whole time.

"F-Finn?" I say, shaking. He wraps me up in his arms.

"Yeah, Ann?"

"It was so bad. " I swallow audibly. "I was there again."

"Where were you, Annie?"

"I was- I was in the closet again. And it was just so dark. It was closing in on me. And I heard you all scream." I breathe out heavily. "Katniss.

Peeta. You. And I couldn't help. I was just stuck there. I was just imagining what could be happening to you guys making you guys scream like that. And-

and-"

"And what?"

I sniffle and say, "I was finally let out and I saw you guys hurt. I kept trying to help and everything I did hurt you guys more. Everywhere I

touched, more cuts and bruises and burns appeared. And you guys were screaming for me to get away. Then this little voice appeared and started saying things."

"What did the voice say. "

"It was saying how I am worthless, mean, and that I hold people back. Do I hold you guys back?" I ask.

"Annie, no. You're everything to me. You would never hold us back."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Finn say.

"And how you guys were hurt..." I trail off.

"Annie, look at us. We're okay. You're okay."

"It just seemed so real." I say shaking my head, frowning.

"We are all okay." Finnick says, pushing my hair behind my ear. "Look."

He holds his arms out for me look at. I run my fingers across Finn's cheek where a big welt was in my dream. I lightly touch the front of his neck

where the big smile cut was. I slide my hands across the smooth skin of his arms. He has none of the red marks overlapping each other across the expanse of his forearms. I turn his arms over and his skin isn't burnt black. It's his normal tan color. I look over to Katniss who looks perfectly fine now and looks

nothing like her shredded-up self in my dream. Peeta also doesn't have all of this little marks all over him, oozing green.

"Okay." I sniffle again. I lean my head on his shoulder and I shut my eyes. I wince as their broken bodies appear behind my eyes. I open my eyes so I

don't have to look at them anymore and tears appear.

"It's okay, Annie." Finnick says. He has one arm wrapped around my back and his other hand is smoothing out my hair. The tears over flow from my

eyes and I start to cry. I muffle the noises into my left hand and fist his shirt in my right.

"Shhhh." He rocks me back and forth. "It's okay. You're okay."

We sit there for a while with Finn holding me. I stop crying, but every time I shut my eyes, I jump awake. I know he's still awake because he's

running his fingers through my hair.

"F-Finny?" My voice shakes.

"Yeah."

I look up at him and I see his face crinkled in concern. "Can you tell me a story?" I say, sounding like a two year old.

"Sure, Ann." The lines on his face smooth out and a little memory flashes in his eyes. "Wanna hear a story about my family?" I nod my head.

"Okay." Finn breathes out. He picks me up and moves me so in cradled in his arms with my head resting on his bicep. "Once upon a time when I was 14, I

went to the beach with my parents, my grandma Mags, and my little sister Coral. She's three years younger than me. So on our beach, there was a small patch of land with three palm trees pretty far out in the water. My sister and I found it when I was 14 and she was 11. Me and Coral would swim out and hangout there. We made a palm-tree, tree house. We weaved hammocks and tied them to the trees high in the air. The trees tilted in at the top so we tied them up there and we would be hanging in the trees. The only way to get to the hammocks were to climb the tree. We would bring food and straws. I'd bring my pocket knife and cut holes in the coconuts. And we'd drink the coconut milk. And one time," Finn starts to play with my hair. I stare up, entranced in his green eyes, which are glowing in the dark from the moon light. His story is calming me down and I wait for him to continue his story in the same soft, soothing voice. "Me and Coral camped out there when I was 15 and she was 12. It was our spot and no one else were crazy enough to swim out there like we did. "

I smile up at him and he smiles back at me. "Why do you never talk about your family?" I ask Finn.

"I don't know. I just never really thought of them without missing them."

"Finn, you should talk to them." I wrap my arms around his neck. "I'll try but it's kind of hard to keep in touch with Coral because she's in a prep school. And Mags is no good with a phone. My parents are always working so that makes it hard. "

"Then you should visit them sometime." I lean head against his shoulder.

"Good idea. I'll do that sometime."

"Okay." I smile. "And Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the story." I say.

"No problem, Ann. Goodnight." He kisses my forehead and lays his head on mine.

"Goodnight." I press a kiss to his neck and shut my eyes, falling asleep easily.

My eyes blink open and I feel them burning from the morning light. Shit. This is what I get for waking up in the middle of the night. I hear two

sets of heavy breathing, indicating that only 1 other person is awake with me. My eyes involuntary close as I move so I can press my eyes into Finn's neck to

block the light. Why does it feel so good to be awake but hurt so bad to keep my eyes open?

"Annie?" A small voice croaks out.

I turn around, forcing my eyes open to see Katniss awake. She sits there, holding Peeta's hand close to her, looking around the room confused.

"Yeah, Kat?" I say sitting up in Finn's lap, his arms still wrapped around my waist.

"Why are we in a hospital?" Katniss says furrowing her eyebrows trying to remember.

"Well first things first, what do you remember from last night?"

"I remember the truth or dares, you and Finnick getting together." She pauses and lifts her eyebrows up in a suggestive manor. "Then I remember, Peeta talking to Thresh, I think. I had my drink in my hand and Cato came up and was flirting with me, like a prick. And when he finally left me alone, I went back to Peeta with my drink. That's all I can think of."

"Well, I'm thinking it's Cato. I think he's the one who drugged you."

"Huh?" Katniss says confused.

"I think it was Cato. That's why we're here, you were drugged with roofies." I explain.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously." I say trying to stop moving. I want to stop shifting my weigh on Finn's lap because I want him to get as much sleep as he can, and so he won't get a boner if he wakes up. "You gave Peeta a heart attack. Me and Finn too. We pushed everyone out of the way so we could get to you two."

Katniss starts to laugh. "What?" I say defensively.

"I just remembered something." I motion for her to continue. "I remember you and Finn getting all hot and bothered on the dance floor. Cato finally left

me alone at that point and I wanted to find someone to talk to so he wouldn't come back. You guys were kind of," Katniss smirks at me. "Busy."

I smile and feel a blush come across my cheeks.

"What did you tell him?"

"Tell who what?"

Katniss rolls her eyes at me. "What did you whisper in Finn's ear that made him get a lustful look on his face and pick you up?"

Last night flashes past my eyes in an instant_. He smiles into my neck __and thrusts against me. I swivel my hips, grinding against him. My breath __catches in my throat as he sucks on my pulse point and does it again. I turn __around and grab his face, pressing our lips together. His tongue pries open my __lips and my tongue meets his in the middle. Finn's hands slide down from my hips __and rest on my ass. I move my hands from his face to his hair, messing it up in __the back. I kiss up to his ear, moving onto the balls of my feet so I can __whisper, "Come on Finn, I know you can do better than that." I nip at his __earlobe before licking a path down his neck._ I feel my face heat up.

"What? You can't just do that. You have to tell me, I'm your best friend. I told you about Peeta."

"Fine." I pick up my hands and sign to her. "_I'm signing to you because __I don't want them to wake up in the middle of me explaining it. I said, Come on, _

_Finn. I know you can do better than that._

She signs back, winking at me. _Someone's getting frisky. And did he __do better?"_

I sigh happily at the memory and nod my head. _I was actually joking __at first but then, something just clicked in my head and I just wanted him._

_It got serious and you really wanted to do it?_

I nod my head at Katniss. _Yeah, but then_

Katniss smiles sheepishly. _Yeah sorry about that. I didn't mean to __cock-block you there._

I laugh and put down my hands. "Maybe next time. Ya know, everything happens for a reason."

"Maybe next time what?" Finnick yawns.

"You just completely missed it." Katniss laughs. Finn just has a confused look on his face. He grumbles and closes his eyes again, only to open

them again and scream, "Katniss, you're awake!" Finn jumps up, not remembering that I'm on his lap, and I ungracefully fall on my ass, making a loud noise.

Peeta wakes up and looks around the room. When his eyes land on Katniss, he runs over and gives her a giant hug.

"Katniss," He exclaims. She hugs him back tightly and kisses his lips. Katniss whispers something into his ear. He turns his head nonchalantly

looking at me and Finn. He nods his head yes and whispers something back. When they break apart, I tap my hand on my thigh.

I tap my ear and look at her, then Peeta, then back to her. She rolls her eyes and laughs. _Hey, at least I didn't say anything to make him hard, _

_like someone I know._ She puts her pointer finger and thumb on her chin and looks at me. She winks and points at me, and flicks her eyes at Finnick for a second before looking back at me.

I smile and rub my eyes, trying to hide my blush. But when I move my hands, I know she saw it by the little light of amusement dancing in her eyes.

_But what did you say? I want to know._ I sign to her.

_This is exactly what I said. Are Annie and Finnick officially __together now? He said yeah, Finn told me that last night that they're going out. __Like boyfriend and girlfriend._

"Why didn't you tell me when I woke up?" Katniss asks me using her voice.

"I don't know, I didn't think of it. And you just woke up."

"I told you the first second I could."

"Sorry." I say.

"It's okay, but you have to tell me when you guys finally mhmm." Katniss makes a thrusting movement with her arms.

I laugh. "Okay, Kat."

"I'm holding you accountable for that. If I find out from someone else-"

I cut her off. "You won't. I'll be sure to call you up right when it's over. I'll still be laying wherever."

Katniss laughs. "Oh, be sure to." She says in a sarcastic tone. "But seriously, don't withhold that from me. The next time I see you after you do it

and tell me about it, you're gonna tell me everything. How it started, how far you went, what you did, everything. I told you about when Peeta and I did it for the first time."

"Wait what? I heard my name." Peeta stops his mini-conversation with Finn.

"You guys keep not mentioning what you're actually talking about. It's hard to keep up with." Finn says rubbing his forehead.

I laugh and pat his arm. "It's alright Finn. If it counts, I have no clue what you guys were talking about."

"Yeah, cuz you were in your own conversation and we were just saying gibberish."

Peeta rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, we were trying to figure out what you were saying."

Katniss lightly slaps his shoulder and laughs while I plop down on the foot of Katniss's hospital bed, holding my stomach. Katniss and I calm down but we look at each other then our boyfriends again and break out laugh again.

"What's so funny?" Peeta asks. I cover my face as I snort loudly.

"What?" Finn asks. I giggle at their confused faces. Katniss smiles wildly and I shield my eyes from their confused faces so I can calm down and

breathe.

"Okay, okay." I take a deep breath. "I have to tell Katniss when-"

Katniss finished my sentence for me. "When you guys finally have sex. She didn't tell me that you guys were going out. I had to find out from

Peeta."

Finnick's face turn a little red. "Okay Katniss." He sighs rubbing his eyes. He lifts his head and smiles a flirty smile at me. "When's that gonna

happen babe?" He winks.

I smile back and say, "You're just gonna have to stick around and find out." Finn smiles and points to his cheek. I get up and kiss his cheek. He

puts his arms around my waist when I move to sit on the bed again. I sit on his lap instead as Katniss's doctor walks in.

"Hello Katniss. How are you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling good, just a little tired."

"The after effects of the drug should be worn off by the end of today." Dr. Fumo states.

"Thank you doctor." Katniss says. "What time can I be released?"

"Im going to check up on you at 1 and then you may leave."

"Okay thank you." Peeta says.

"No problem." Dr. Fumo says. "Have a good day and feel better." She smiles at us and leaves the room.

"Hey, what time is it? I'm starving." I say patting my grumbling stomach.

"It's," Peeta checks his watch. "Almost 11:45."

"Okay, let's get food." I say standing up.

"Bring me back something. I'm stuck." Katniss says holding her left arm up, which has her I.V. in it. I shiver looking at the needle and look away.

"I'll stay with you." Peeta says.

"Okay we'll bring you guys back something. See you guys soon." Finnick grabs a hold of my hand and walks out the room. I twine our fingers together and we swing them slightly while we walk.

"Do you know where it is?" I ask pressing the floor 1 button in the elevator.

"I don't know. We should ask the desk though." Finnick wraps his arms around my waist and the elevator drops down. He pecks my lips and I smile

and kiss him. DING! The door signals that we have arrived. We smile at each other.

"You wanna ask the front desk?" I ask.

"Sure." We walk up to the front desk. Finn nudges me forward.

"Um where is the cafeteria?" I ask.

"It's down the hall and to the left." The receptionist answers.

"Thank you." Finn winks at me.

I nudge his shoulder as we walk away. "I meant for you to ask! You know I hate talking to people."

He laughs. "Yeah I know. I just wanted to see what you'd do." He nudges me back. "Cuz you're scared of them."

"I'm not scared of them! I just don't like to."

"Yeah, okay Ann." Finn playfully rolls his eyes.

"Whatever." I laugh. "Let's get food."

The cafeteria came into view and I smell all of the food. "FOOD!" I yell. Finn laughs and throws his arm around me nonchalantly. I walk over to the red

trays and pick up 2. The light was shining in through the windows across the room and I could tell it was a warm day. The line moves quickly and is full of

mostly nurses in different colored scrubs. Finn and I grab a bunch of food to bring up to Peeta and Katniss. Once we finished stocking up on cheese fries,

pizza, chicken tenders, and burgers, Finn leads the way out of the dining hall.

"Do you really think Cato poisoned Kat?" Finn asks as we climb into the elevator.

"Probably. He's an insufferable jerk off with absolutely no respect for anyone but himself." I scowl just at the sound of his name.

"Nice vocab." Finn chuckles, nudging my shoulder. "Do you think Peeta knows? He will be so pissed when he finds out. The way he flipped on Marvel that time... The boy's protective."

"We all are of the things we love. And when Peeta finds out he's gonna go ape shit."

The elevator dings and we reach our floor.

"We got food!" I announce, walking into Katniss's room.

"Thanks." They say as me and Finn sits down. We all eat and talk as we wait for Katniss to be released. Dr. Fumo arrives in Katniss's room at precisely

1.

She checks all of Katniss's vitals and clears her to go. "Take it easy tonight and you should be good for tomorrow."

"Thank you Dr. Fumo." Katniss says.

Johanna calls me as we get in the car.

**Hey. **

**How's Katniss. **

**She's good, just a bit tired. **

**That's good. Me, Finch, and Thresh were worried. So was Thom but he had to go home cuz he had to check in at his house. **

**Okay. Do you guys wanna come over? We'll all talk then.**

**Okay be there in a little while. **

**Okay bye Jo**

**Bye Ann**

We hang up. "Jo, Thresh and Finch are coming over for a bit."

"Okay." We all get back to the apartment in about 10 minutes. The first thing Katniss does is lay down on the couch. Peeta sits on the love seat

with Finn and I sit on the floor between Finn's legs. Someone knocks on the door.

"Come in!" Katniss yells.

Finch, Jo, and Thresh walk in. "Hey guys. Kat how ya feeling?" Thresh says.

"Good, just a little tired." Katniss says.

"I'll be right back. I have to pee." I say standing up.

"That's nice to know. Thank you for that information." Jo says.

"You're welcome."

I leave Jo, Katniss, Finch, Thresh, Finn, and Peeta in the living room. I walk to the bathroom down stairs. I get to the hallway before I scream

on the top of my lungs. There is a huge spider hanging 5 inches away from my face and at my nose level. I drop to the ground and scurry backwards. They all come running and I trying to stand up but my feet fail me. I grip the wall and pull myself up, when they all make in over here.

"What?" Katniss asks. I point up to the spider and I see my shaking hand. I stiffen my body as I feel myself start to shake. I feel things crawling all over me and I itch and they won't go away.

"I'll get it." Thresh says. He easily squishes it.

"It's okay Ann, it's dead now." Finch says.

"Yeah, after I almost peed myself." I put my hand on my chest. Jo and Peeta smile at me. They all turn to leave. "Wait! I'm scared. Can someone come

with me?" I say pointing to the bathroom door.

"I'll go with you, Ann." Katniss says.

I shake out my arms and bounce on the balls of my feet. I duck and run into the bathroom before I chicken out. I do my business, and run out the

bathroom the same way I got in. I run and plop on the couch with Katniss walking in after me. I feel the crawling all over me and I start to scratch my arms and legs. I don't even realize how hard I'm scratching 'till Finn grabs my hands.

"Annie, stop itching." He says. I look down and see I almost drew blood. I feel the spiders crawling all over me again and I try to pull my hands

away to get them off. I pull and Finn holds my hands tighter.

"I'm so itchy though." I say rubbing my sock covered feet on the floor.

"Annie, there's nothing there."

"I know but it feels like something is."

"Nothing's there, Ann." Jo says. I take a deep breath and hold it. I exhale a little bit each 20 seconds I count. I hold my breath for 90 seconds and

I let out the rest of the air. I lean back on the couch and sit in a criss cross apple sauce.

"Okay I'm better now." I say.

"Good." Finn says. I lean back into the couch and put my head on Finnick's shoulder, sharing one of the love seat cushions.

"We have to plan another one of those parties. That was so much other than me getting drugged." Katniss says. We all laugh and I calm down enough to

say, "Yeah that was fun."

"I'm sure it was Ann. You were all up on Finn. Was that fun too?" Thresh says joking.

I blush bright red and say, "Yes it was."

Finn and I make eye contact and he has a hunger in his eyes that I can't describe. He throws me a smile and slides his arm around my waist, pulling

me closer. I smile up to him and I get lost in his eyes. His green orbs shine as we continue to stare into each other's eyes. Someone clears their throat and

our trance is broken.

"Katniss! Annie! I need your help!" Prim yells walking in the door.

"What do you need?" We ask in synch.

"I need help getting ready for my date!"

"Come on, let's go." I say standing up. Katniss and I follow Prim into her room. Katniss helps pick out an outfit, while I get and turn on my straightener.

"Prim, where's Alex taking you?" I ask, touching the hot plates to see if they are hot enough yet. I pull my hand away quickly before I get burned.

"We're going to a movie then... Is it alright if he sleeps over? Please. We won't do anything. You know we won't. Please Katniss and Annie."

I mull this over and I look over to Katniss. She's biting her bottom lip and her eyebrows are furrowed in thought. She looks up and we make eye contact. We give each other a small nod and smile. We know each other so well we don't even need to use words to say our opinions on this topic.

"Yeah he can stay over," I start.

Katniss finishes, "but we are going to give him a talk."

A huge smile breaks across Prim's face. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She gives us each a hug and finishes telling us her plans as I straighten

her hair.

"So after the movies, we are gonna eat out somewhere, then he's gonna sleep over. Then his brother is gonna pick him up in the morning."

"I see you guys got this all planned out." I say straightening a piece of her hair.

"Yeah. I'm so excited!"

"What time is the movie and when is he picking you up?" Katniss asks, lightly applying eyeliner. She then picks up mascara. "Blink."

Prim blinks into the mascara wand. "The movie's at 7:45 and he's picking me up at 7. What time is it now?"

I tap my phone after I finish straightening a different piece of her hair. "6:43."

"Okay, and thanks for doing this for me."

"No problem, Prim."

"Yeah it's no big deal." I say, running a brush through her hair. "Okay, I'm done."

"Me too. Don't look in the mirror yet. You need to get dressed." Katniss tosses Prim the outfit she picked out. Prim is now wearing black leggings and a

pink flowery top with black flats.

"Thanks guys." Prim spins around infront of the mirror. There's a knock on the front door and Prim rushes out of the room and down the stairs.

"We did good." I say to Katniss.

"Yeah we did." We do our handshake and walk out of the room.

"Bye Annie, Katniss and everyone!" Prim says waving goodbye.

"Bye Prim." We all say.

"Who was that?" Finch asks.

"Oh that's Prim's boyfriend." Katniss answers.

"How does she have a boyfriend and I don't?" Johanna says.

"Jo because-" She gives Thresh a look. "Nothing." He mumbles.

I snicker and hop over the back of the couch, sitting on my legs next to Finn. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into his side.

"We gotta give Alex a talk." I say leaning my head onto Finn's shoulder.

"I hate talks."

"You seemed fine giving me one." Peeta says.

I yawn and smile lazily at him. "I- yeah." I laugh.

"What did you say to him?" Katniss asks.

"Umm what did I say? Okay, it was the day in high school when we were over Peeta's doing homework and me and Peeta were in the kitchen after he called me in, I think. And you were in the living room, I know that for a fact. Oh anyway, it was something along the lines of me gonna castrate him and break his knees with me softball bat if he did anything that would make me comfort you with ice cream and fuzzy pj pants. Oo! That's what it was. Exactly that!" I say, popping up quickly, getting black spots. I grab onto Finn's shoulder and wait for them to go away. I relax and get in the same position I was in before.

"You okay?" Finn asks.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just got up to fast." I put my head back on his shoulder.

"But why are you giving Alex a talk?" Thresh asks.

"Because he is sleeping over tonight. And I don't feel like being an aunt anytime soon." Katniss jokes.

I laugh and nudge her with my foot. She's sitting next to me on the other end of the couch. "You're not gonna be an aunt."

"Ya never know."

"Jo!" Katniss punches her on the arm. Johanna snickers.

"Whatever." I sigh. "Man, I'm tired."

"Same." Finnick yawns.

"Ooo, you got something to tell us?" Johanna says, raising her eyebrows.

"No." I laugh. "We were in the hospital, remember?"

"You did it in the hospital?!" Johanna jumps up.

"No!" I blush.

Finch continues the conversation, jokingly. "It's okay Annie, you still have to tell us when you guys have sex."

"You so have to tell us!" Katniss says, popping up.

"You guys have to fuck already! The sexual tension between you two is really high." Johanna waves her hand between me and Finnick. I feel the movement of Finn's hand lightly sliding up and down my thigh stop. I feel myself blush again.

"Whatever, let's watch a movie." Thresh says.

"We end up watching That's My Boy. They all go home when the movie ends. It's just me and Katniss now, waiting for Prim and Alex to come back. "I

want them to come back so I can go to sleep." I say, dropping my head to the back of the couch.

"Just think of something and do it." Katniss says wiping down the dinner table. She knows I want to be there when we talk to Alex.

I grumble, standing up to do laundry. It hasn't been done in a while. I look at overflowing basket and heave it up into my arms, after sighing. I carefully walk down the stairs, almost falling as my foot misses a step.

"I'm doing the laundry, need anything specific washed?"

"Nope." Katniss calls from the dining room.

I look at the clock, frowning at the time. 10:02. It feels a lot later than that. I put the clothes in our washing machine and pour the right amount of detergent.

"Back." I say hopping on the counter.

"Ay, I just cleaned that." Katniss saying jokingly, lightly slapping my leg. She seriously doesn't care about me sitting on it, she sits right next me

on the counter now. I smile at her.

"We're back!" Prim yells as she and Alex walk in the front door.

"How was it?" I ask, Katniss and I hopping down.

"Good, we had fun." Alex says, smiling at Prim.

"Prim, can you go upstairs? We need to talk to Alex." Katniss says.

"Okay." Prim pecks Alex on the cheek and runs up the stairs.

After we make sure Prim is upstairs, me and Katniss take a seat at the

table and motion for Alex to sit across from us. There's silence for a few

minutes before Katniss breaks the ice.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase. You and Prim are getting serious now. Your sleeping over here. Your both 16. And on that note for a second, if I

become an aunt anytime soon, I will make sure to drop kick your ass and send you flying to the darkest, coldest, cave in Russia. Got it?" I have to hold Katniss down in her seat, while giggling at Alex's scared face.

He gulps a 'yes' and shrinks alitttle back in his seat.

I make him face me and send daggers into his eyes. "If you hurt her, in any way shape or form that a single tear is shed, I will hunt you down

and castrate you, and bring my softball bat into play. Composite bats hit the hardest ya know. Although, you should be more scared of Katniss when it comes to Prim. She will do anything to keep her safe. And trust me, you don't want to see her when she gets protective mixed with anger. You'll have 2 bats up your ass that you won't be able to walk for weeks. Kapishe?"

Alex quickly nods his head and starts mumbling about how he won't do anything to hurt her.

Katniss and I smile, knowing our work here is done. "Now go on upstairs. But no funny business." I say with a smirk. He darts from his chair

and runs-more like sprints upstairs.

We give each other high fives and smile.

"That was fun." I say to Katniss.

"Right!" Katniss says happily. I yawn.

"Okay, I'm going to sleep." I say giving Katniss a hug.

"Okay, night Ann."

"Night." I trudge up the stairs and lay down in bed. I close my eyes, hoping I would sleep the night through, peacefully.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I lay on the couch, flipping a softball in the air. DING DONG! The doorbell rings. "Prim! Alex's ride is here!" I scream to her. She doesn't come down the stairs. I grumble standing up to answer the door. The door opens and I see the blonde hair and cold blue eyes that I hate.

"What do you want Cato?" I spit out.

"Nothing, little mermaid." He smirks. "Just picking up my brother."

I feel my eyes widen as I connect the dots. "PRIM GET DOWN HERE!"

"Alright, alright. I'm here, I'm here." She squeaks, realizing who's at the door. "Alex you should go, okay?"

"Alright, Prim. I'll text you." He pecks her lips. I cover my mouth, looking between Cato and Alex in shock. I remember them looking exactly alike except for eyes and hair. They look nothing alike anymore! At all! They leave just after Cato gets in a "See you soon, little mermaid."

"Annie..." Prim trails off.

"I'm okay." I roll my jaw. "I just need to breathe."

I clench my teeth together and walk to my room. I shut and lock my door, leaning up against it. My hands shake and I squeeze my eyes shut. None of my memories of Cato go away. I open my window and climb out onto the fire escape. I sit, leaning against the outside wall of our apartment. I take deep breaths and try to calm down. I just feel so lost right now and I hear my second home calling me. The ocean. I make my way down the ladder and my shoeless feet touch the cement after a few minutes. I jump off and start to run. I know this sound childish but I'm trying to run away from my memories.

I take off on my own. I'm just fucking done with Cato. I run and run until I feel the pain in my legs and my ankles feel like they're going to break. My ankles have gotten worse and worse. I can no longer run without an ankle brace on both of them with shoes on. I can only do it barefoot without them hurting too much, which is the main reason I'm not wearing shoes. I continue to run barefoot down the side walk and I quickly run across the street. I hear the screech of brakes and I almost topple over as a silver car narrowly misses me. I hold up my hands and scream "SORRY!"

I continue sprinting across the street and I ignore the scorching pavement burning my feet. I continue with the same speed down the sidewalk, with the ocean on my right. I want my beach. The beach where Katniss and I grew up on. Where our hideout was. I turn onto the boardwalk and continue running. I run down the steps and continue down the beach. I run toward the ocean, the salt water lapping up around my feet. I walk in, deeper and deeper until the water is skimming the bottom of my shorts. I splash water up in my face and float on my back for a while. My mind empties and I calm down as the ocean cools my skin. A wave swells and crashes on my stomach. I hold my breath, sitting on the ocean floor, and open my eyes. I look through the clear water and see the wave above me break apart. It so beautiful down here. I push myself up and look around. I drifted out far. I swim at a diagonal and eventually reach the shore again.

I pull myself out of the water and walk down the beach peacefully. I hum myself a little tune that my sister used to sing. I hear her voice singing to me and pushing back my hair. "-I hope all is well, I'll be waiting in the ocean swell."

I stop singing, hearing my name being called. I look around and no one I recognize is near me. I pick up the speed and start to jog along the shore. I break out into a full out sprint when I hear the ocean calling to me. I try to get away from water's edge but my legs won't cooperate. I see black spots in my vision and my stomach grumbles. I realize I haven't eaten anything all day. Stupid low blood pressure making me dizzy. I push on and force myself up the beach. I run onto the board walk and realize I have no clue where the fuck I am. I walk up to a hotdog stand and ask, "Excuse me, how far is this from Main Street?"

"We're about two miles away from there, little lady. You're going to have to travel up the beach in that direction," The big man points north. "And keep straight. Main street should come up on your right."

"Thank you." I smile at him. I turn around and head home. I jog the way there because my feet are burning up by walking on the cement. I pick up the pace, realizing I've been gone a while. After about 10 minutes of jogging, I'm forced into a walk by my legs which are refusing to cooperate.

"Come on, Annie. You got this." I tell myself. I push myself forward and I almost cry out of relieve at seeing my apartment building. The black rimming my vision spreads where everything is flickering from all black and the scenery. I force my eyes open, which made no deference what so ever. I take a deep breath and walk shakily. I feel everything spinning. I hold my arms out and try to walk. I feel myself wobbling and clearly not walking in a straight line. I grab my head and sit down on the curb. I put my head between my knees, hoping I won't pass out. Shit, shit, shit. This is so bad.

"Get to the apartment Annie." I tell myself. I push myself up and walk into the main doors after a few deep breathes. I hold on the wall and I stumble down the hallway. It's hard to control my body right now. I press my burning forehead onto the cold metal walls in the elevators and hold on for dear life. I get off on my floor and I'm just about 10 feet from the door when I feel myself start to drop. Fuck, I think I'm having a heat stroke. Or heat exhaustion. I remember having one when I was at opening day for softball in the summer of 8th grade. I push forward blindly, and run smack into the door. I hold onto the door knob, trying to catch my balance. I take a deep breath and hope the strobe lights behind my vision will go away.

It doesn't.

I turn the door knob and find it locked. I bang on the door as loud as I can as my hearing goes away. My heavy gasping breathes are lost on my ears. Everything sounds as I am trying to hear from under water. The door swings open but I never see who answered the door. All I see is black, hearing gurgled voices, and feel the cool was of the floor.

KATNISS'S P.O.V.

"Prim, where's - Shit!" I stumble over a softball on the floor.

"Where's Annie?"

"Uh," Prim hesitates. "She's in her room. She went in there after she

figured out that Alex is Cato's little brother. "

"Fuck, he's his little brother? This is not good." I jog up the stairs to Annie's room.

"Annie!" I bang on the door. "Open up. I need to talk to you."

She doesn't answer. I pull on the door knob. It's locked.

"Ann-"

"Katniss! Peeta and Finn are here!" My sister screams from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey guys." I say to them as they walk up the stairs. I turn back to the door worried. "Annie, open up! Come on, it's alright."

"What's a matter with Annie?" Finn asks. Aw, he has his worried boyfriend face on. He definitely loves her.

"She found out that Alex is Cato's little brother."

"What?!"

"Right! But from what Ann said from when her and Cato went out, Alex and him are nothing alike. From what I saw, they think completely different. So at least Prim won't get hurt like Annie did."

"Yeah that's good but why's Annie locked up in her room?"

"I don't know." I frown. "Annie, at least say something!"

Nothing.

"Come on, babe. Answer us." Finnick pleads.

"Annie, I'll make you all your favorite foods." Peeta says.

I hear wind blowing as I think of what might going through Annie's mind. Wait, wind!

"Peeta, can you still pick locks?" I ask my boyfriend.

"Yeah." I give him a look. "You want me to pick her lock? It might fuck up her lock though."

"It doesn't matter. I'll fix it later."

"Okay." He pulls out two paper clips out of his pocket. He will still never leave the house without some. I smile as he unfolds them and sticks one of the straight ends into the lock.

"How do you know how to pick a lock?" Finnick asks.

"My brothers," Peeta digs around in the lock for a bit. "Locked me out of the house when I was younger. They thought it was funny." He flicks his wrist, smiling as the lock clicks open. "Then when I got older, I locked them out of the house and they didn't know how to get back in. They were out a whole night."

"Good job Peet!" Finnick gives him a high five as I turn the door knob and push the door open.

"Annie's not here." I feel my heartbeat pick up. I feel the humidity in her room and I see the open window, leading to the fire escape.

I start going into a panic attack and try to think where she go. Think, think, think Katniss! The beach! But first I better look around. "Check everywhere!" I say to everyone. Running around like a mad woman with tears streaming down my face, I check every room and every crevice. Annie does irrational things when in distress. "SHE'S NOT HERE! COME ON LET'S GO!" I scream up the stairs and Peeta comes down followed by Finn and then Prim. I throw open the door and run smack into Ann. She has no emotion lying behind her eyes and just walks almost zombielike past me. A mumble of voices are around me but all I hear is nothing as I see Annie's eyes roll to the back of her head and she falls to the floor. I scream and dart to her. Picking up her head and laying it on my lap. I check her pulse and find it slow. Shit! Low blood pressure. "GET SOME FOOD , WATER AND ICE! NOW BITCHES!" Everyone's in a frenzy to get the stuff and I try to fan her. Peeta brings over a granola bar and I coax Annie awake and put the food in front of her mouth. She eats it and sips some water, getting back to her old self. Everyone sighs in relief and I take her into a bone crushing hug, crying.

I hate when she gets like this. It makes me cry and I hate crying.

Finn brings Annie up to her room, locking the window. The cold washcloth he had in his hand, is most likely on Annie's forehead. He comes down and plops down on the couch and lets out a big breath.

"Why does this have to happen?" Finn says running his fingers through his hair.

"I don't know, we just have to wait for Annie to wake up." I say.

We go into mindless conversation until she wakes up.

ANNIE'S P.O.V.

I wake up and sit up, finding myself on my bed in my room. A washcloth falls off my head and lands in my lap. I put it back on my forehead and lay back down. My mind goes back to what happened earlier. Nice job, dumb ass. I say to myself. I seriously think I should've learned by now how I can't not eat for a while. Atleast they can all count on me never becoming anorexic or belemic. I know that sound kind of bad or disrespectful to people like that but it is true though. I'd most likely be passed out somewhere. I could never go around like that. I swing my legs of my bed and lightly touch my feet to the floor. Ow fuck. "Nice move, Annie." I mumble. This is what I get for not wearing shoes. I stand up and grip my bedside table, getting dizzy. Shit! I have to eat something substantial. Now.

I take a few excruciating steps and my feet tingle in pain. Suck it up, princess. Get downstairs. I lightly walk on my balls of my feet, them still hurting. The cool wood beneath my feet feels good. The steps creak a bit as I make my way down the stairs.

"Hey Ann, how ya feeling?" I jump as Katniss's voice reaches my ears.

"Better." I say grabbing my heart. She scared the shit out of me.

Katniss gives me a big hug and says, "You scared the shit out of us."

"Sorry, I just-" I take a deep breath. "I just lost track of time."

"It's okay Ann." Katniss pats me on the back.

I take a deep breath and walk over to the couch where Finn lays sleeping. I hear Peeta clanging around in the kitchen. "How have I been out?"

"Umm," Katniss looks at the clock. "For about 3 hours."

"Shit. Sorry, I was just tired." I say rubbing my eyes.

"How much sleep did you get last night?"

I hesitate. "Maybe an hour. Tops an hour and a half."

"Why?"

"I had a nightmare and I called Finn because I thought he died so he didn't get a lot of sleep either. He was on the phone with me calming me down." I think back to my nightmare and shiver.

"Ann, we gotta do something about your nightmares."

"No!" I pop off the back of the couch, where I was leaning. "I just need to deal with it. I'm not taking anything that'll make me sleep. It would be even worse because I wouldn't be able to wake up! How'd you get yours to go away?"

"Peeta."

"Huh?" Peeta says from the kitchen.

"Nothing, I'm talking to Annie." She turns back to me. "I always think of him be all the things we do together and everything that's good in life right before going to sleep. It keeps them muted. They are still there but they aren't that bad."

"Thanks Kat, I'll try that next time."

Peeta walks into the room, holding a tray of cheese, crackers, and pepperoni. I take a look at the lock. 4:37 pm. He places it on the table and we all crowd around it.

"Need anything to drink?" I say making a move to stand up but Katniss stops me.

"I'll get it. Coke and Rootbeer?"

"Yeah, thanks." I smile at her.

"Thanks sweetheart."

When Katniss walks back into the room, she slaps his shoulder lightly. I make myself a little sandwich using the cracker, cheese, and pepperoni. As Katniss and Peeta talk back and forth, I lean my head back against the couch. I yawn as my butt slides across the floor. I end up laying on the floor, like I would on the couch. I have my left arm under my head and my right is curled around my stomach. My legs are up to my chest and I feel my eyes shut involuntarily. I try to open them before I fall asleep but it's too late.

KATNISS'S POV

I see Annie fall asleep.

"Katniss?"

"Yeah?" I turn to Peeta.

"I think we should get help."

"What do you mean, Peeta?" He has a serious look on his face and it's starting to scare me.

"I mean, that we should get someone to help Annie sort her problems."

"So you mean a therapist?" I ask incredulously. "She's just fine! She

doesn't need anyone, she has me! Annie is fine and can take care of herself! How

dare you assume that I can't help my own best friend. I'm perfectly capable of handling this little bump in the road!" I stand up and gape at him for his ridiculous idea. How could he?

"Woah Kat. Calm down. I never intended to insult you. It was merely a suggestion. I know that you can take care of Annie. But maybe we need someone professional." He takes my hands in his own and stands up. "Never assume that I would think you can't take care of anything. You are strong and brave and so passionate. I love you."

I kiss him as my response. "Maybe your right. I-I just don't know what to do." Tears start pooling down my cheeks. "I want to be good for Ann and help her but I can't. I want to but I can't." My head falls into the crook of Peeta's neck. He whispers loving things into my ear and calms me down.

"You're doing fine. But maybe she needs someone who doesn't know anything. A fresh start. Where there's no baggage and no judging. She needs this. She will always have you and you are perfect. But sometimes that's not enough." Peeta kisses me and I can only nod, for tears might flood out of my eyes again.

I regain my composure and give Peeta a big hug. "Thank you. I love you, truly."

"Love you too." He hugs back. We sit back down on the couch and Peeta pulls me into his arms. I rest my head on his shoulder and breathe out heavily.

I hear Annie mumble, "Finn." Peeta and I look over to Annie. She's sleeping and her face is crinkled up in distress. Finnick moves slightly at the mention of his name.

"What was-"

"Finn, Finn! No!" Annie yells. Finnick wakes up, his eyes wide. I move to get up to wake Annie up but Peeta stops me. I look at him, confused, and he nods his was to where Annie is. A few more mumble yelled words come out of her mouth. I have no clue what she just said. I turn and see Finn on the floor, holding Annie in his arms, and whispering something in her hear. Soon, all the tension in her body is gone and she's still sleeping, relaxed now. Her whole episode was over in a matter of minutes. Finn lays down, still holding Annie.

Peeta and I look at each other, at Annie and Finn, then back to each other. My mouth is stuck open in surprise. This is the fastest she's ever calmed down from a nightmare.

"Oh my god." I say quietly. "Her nightmares are scary for me and I'm not even living through them. I couldn't imagine having to see you die."

"You don't have to. You're not gonna lose me. I'm right here." He kisses my forehead. "Let's watch a movie, okay?"

ANNIE POV

I walk the lonely dark street by myself, having a moment of déjà vu. I look around for something that'll remind me where I am. I sigh and stop moving, knowing I'm lost.

"Fuck." I say sitting on the curb. I see two shadows run, across the street, looking as if the person in front is being chased.

"HELP!" A very familiar voice screams.

"Shut the fuck up!" A different voice yells. There is a loud bang and I see the person in the front crumble to the floor. The back guy turns around and runs away. I sprint across the street to the figure laying on the ground.

"Finn?" I gasp.

He smiles slightly but grimaces through the pain. "Ann." He coughs and spits blood. He holds his chest with one hand and the other one grips mine. He starts to gasp for air.

"Finn, Finn! No!" I scream. I push my hands on the bleeding wound, a few tears slipping from my eyes. "Come on," I sniffle. "Please Finn! Hang in there."

"Annie, I-" His grip on my hand loosens and it slips off.

"Finn." I cry realizing he's dead.

"Shh." His voice comforts me. "It's okay. You're fine. I'm fine." I feel warmth as if he's actually holding me. I calm down enough to stop crying and that's when everything fades to black.

There's a bright light shining in my face when I open my eyes.

"Annie." I sit up, hearing Finn's voice. We are sitting on a beach, and I'm laying on a blanket. He grabs my hands and pulls me up. Finnick pecks my lips and moves to pull away. I grab his face and bring our lips back together. He smiles and presses our foreheads together when we are catching our breaths. I'm so happy he is alive and breathing.

"Let's go swimming." He smiles.

"Okay."

We jump waves for a while and swim around in the warm water. Now we are laying on the blanket, facing each other.

"Ann." Finn says.

"Hmm?"

"Annie."

"Yeah?"

"Annie wake up."

The ocean gets farther and farther away. I shut my eyes as the sun gets too bright.

I open my eyes and I'm lying in Finn's arms on the floor. His arms are wrapped around my waist and my head is laying on his chest.

"Annie, you gotta wake up now. You're not gonna be able to go to sleep tonight."

"I pick my head up and look around. Katniss looks like she's about to yell for me to wake up.

"Annie how'd you sleep?" Finn asks sitting up.

"Good, I guess. I had the same dream as before so..."

"It's okay. We're all alive."

"I know." I say sighing. I make my way slowly onto my feet. I drop myself onto the couch and curl up into a ball, exhausted.

"Want something to eat?" Peeta asks.

I nod my head.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Uhh." I mumble. "I don't know."

"Okay, I'll think of something." Peeta walks into the kitchen.

I hear him bang around in the kitchen in my half-asleep state. I yawn, droning out Katniss and Finnick's conversation. They look at me expectantly when I finish my yawn.

"Hmm?" I hum, my eyes shutting.

"I said, when was the last time you slept through a whole night without waking up." Katniss says.

I open my eyes, staring at the ceiling, trying to think. "Uh, the last time? Okay, um. Oh, when we went to the amusement park." Like that was easy to get out. I could barely understand myself. I yawn again and move so my head is on the armrest on the couch and my arms are crossed on my stomach. I shut my eyes again and continue talking. "It was when me and Finn slept together. Like just slept. That was the first night in a while I didn't wake up at least once and slept to a normal time."

"Really, that long ago?" Finnick asks.

"Ann, that's not good." Katniss frowns.

"It wasn't really that long ago, and it's not that bad. I forgot what it was like to sleep the whole night. Like I didn't know I could do that anymore before that." I say. "Besides before that time, it's been a few years."

"Annie!" Katniss exclaims. "That's horrible."

"What?" I'm confused. I knew it wasn't good, but it's not horrible.

"You're supposed to sleep."

"But I don't. At least I'm not one of those grumpy people when I'm tired."

"Yeah, but you might get insomnia." Katniss says.

"If anything, I already have it and my brain/body didn't shut down yet. I didn't go crazy yet."

"Ann, you have to e careful." Finnick says.

I smell something great coming from the kitchen. "Peeta what are you making?" I call over.

"Calzones." Peeta says walking into the living room. "They'll be done in about 20 minutes."

"Yay, thank you." I get up and give him a hug. He seriously makes the best food ever. I sit bak down before I get another dizzy spell. I sit criss cross apple sauce and lean my elbows on my thighs.

"Do you wanna play a game while we wait for the food?" Finnick asks.

"Depends." Katniss says smoothing out her braid.

"Never have I ever."

"No." I hold the o for a few seconds. "I don't wanna drink."

"We don't have to drink, we'll play the same think minus the drinks."

"Okay." I smile. "How many fingers?"

"10." Finnick says.

"How do you play?" Katniss has a confused look on her face.

"We go around in a circle and when it's your turn, you have to say something you've never done before. When it's someone else's turn, if you did what they said, you have to put down a finger. It's usually the most sober person wins, but since we're not drinking, we'll do the person who has the most fingers up when someone runs out of fingers, wins." Finnick smiles.

"I'll start." Finnick says. We all put up our 10 fingers. "Never have I ever given a blow job."

"You would say that." Katniss says, putting her thumb down. I laugh, keeping my fingers up. Peeta, Finnick, and I still have 10. "Ann, you got a lot to learn." She laughs as my face turns red. "Okay, never have I ever eaten a girl out." Finnick and Peeta both put down a finger. Finnick says jokingly, "You're trying to get me out."

Katniss laughs. "Revenge."

"Well sweet cheeks, I'm not gonna lose." He says jokingly.

I laugh as Peeta says, "Never have I ever smoked."

"Smoked as in cigarettes or smoked as in weed and marijuana." I ask.

"Both. I've never smoked."

"Seriously?" Katniss asks.

"Yeah."

"Well that knocks me out." I put down a finger.

"Yeah me too." Katniss says.

"Really?" Finnick asks. "When?"

"I used to smoke cigarettes with my sister. That's was for about a month but then there was the crash. And I stopped after that. I still have her last pack and her lighter. There was 19 of the 20 when she died, now there's 14. I smoke one on each of her birthdays." I shake my head, clearing my thoughts. "And I smoked marijuana with Katniss and a group of people at that senior year party."

"I smoked marijuana then too. And I tried cigarettes but they were gross." Katniss says making a face.

I laugh, "They're not that bad."

"Yeah they are." She says.

"Whatever," I say. "Never have I ever slapped a teacher."

"Why would someone slap a teacher?" Finnick asks.

"Katniss almost did." Everyone turns to her and I laugh.

"What? It was Mrs. Mazer." Katniss says.

Peeta groans. "Oh my god she was horrible."

"Yeah, my sister had her too. She always would yell at me for disturbing her

lockers when I'd go to talk to Katniss." I say. "Do you remember when I used to wave to you on my way to my science class?"

She nods. "Yeah, I sat right by the door and Peeta sat next to me."

"I remember waving once and you weren't looking and Peeta was." I start to

laugh. "And he gave me that look like, who-the-fuck-is-this-girl-she's-crazy."

"Yeah, I had no clue who you were. And you were always laughing after it."

"Yeah cuz I wrote this story and I used everyone's names. So every time I

looked at that person, I remembered my story and I would laugh."

"What's it about?" Peeta asks. I look at Katniss and start to laugh. She started a story around the same time I did.

"I can't even explain it." I giggle out.

"Never have I ever done drugs." Finnick says. None of us put down our fingers.

Katniss has 8 still up, and me, Peeta, and Finn all have 9 left. It's Katniss's turn.

"Never have I ever been cheated on." She says.

I put down a finger and so does Finn. He says something about Enobaria cheating on him with his friend. The only time I've been cheated on was by Cato. My first boyfriend. Cato... I don't hear anything as I focus in on the wall behind Peeta and Katniss's head. I see their lips moving but I don't know what they're saying. Cato's cold blue eyes appear and I start to hear his voice.

_"I never liked you." _He spits out at me._ "I'm done with the torture of being _

_your boyfriend."_

Warm hands grab mine and I feel a few breaths on my neck. "Annie." Finnick's

voice blocks out Cato's. "Babe, listen to me. Please look at me." He says into

my ear. It takes me a while for me to look over and focus my eyes on his concerned

face. My eyes sharpen as I look at his worried face but continue to drift to the

wall behind his head. He cups my cheeks and presses our lips together. His kiss

spreads warmth throughout my body, unfreezing my mind and burning the cold blue

eyes out of my head. He rests his forehead against mine and I look into his eyes, only thinking about Finnick.

"Ann." He says, not looking away.

I give him a small smile. "Finn."

"You okay?" He asks. I nod my head. He smiles widely at me and kisses my nose. We pull apart and I lean into his side, tucking my legs under me. He puts his arm around me, pulling me close. I thought I could handle that never have I ever. Obviously I couldn't. Well today has been a bad day. Found out that my little sister's boyfriend's brother is Cato. I ran away and my low blood pressure almost -I mean- did make me pass out. I clocked out and almost got lost in my past. Today was just wonderful. I sigh putting my head on his shoulder.

"I have a headache." I say as my stomach makes noise.

"A hungry headache?" Katniss asks.

"Yeah." I close my eyes, the burning behind my eyes and the pounding in my forehead and temples not going away. The timer dings and Peeta gets up to check on in. He comes back in a few minutes later saying, "Foods ready."

"Yay!" I pop up, a little too quickly. I put my arms out and I grab onto the

couch as black spots cover my vision. I blink a few times, clearing my eyes and let go of the couch.

"You okay?" Katniss asks. Damn this is seriously a bad day.

"Yeah, just a head rush." I shrug my shoulders.

"How often do you get those?" Finn asks.

"Every time I stand up too fast or go from laying down for a little while to standing." I say. "Let's eat."

I smile when the first bite makes it past my lips. "Peeta, this is so good."

"Thanks." He says smiling.

We eat dinner, talking about everything. School. Past memories. Family. Food.

You name it. I'm bow laying on the couch, curled up into a ball in Finn's arms. He lays behind me in the couch, actually watching the movie playing. His head is propped up by his arm and the other is around me. My eyes are drooping, even though its barely 10. I end up falling asleep soon after Finn leaves a small kiss on my cheek.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

I pull on a frilly lace tank top and black jean short shorts, the pockets are peeking through the bottom. I hit the shuffle button on my music and Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke comes on.

"Everybody get up!" I sing in the high pitches to the tone he sings the song as I straighten my hair. My hair looks really shiny right now. It was probably the eggs. I think back to yesterday morning for our egg and flour war. And that kiss.

_I'm overheated by the time I wake up. Finn's arm is still around my waist and I feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. I move closer so there's no space between my back and his chest. His arm tightens around me and my lips turn up in a small smile. I keep my eyes shut as I hear footsteps come down the stairs. The steps come closer and stop right in front of the couch. I hear something placed on the coffee table and footsteps walking away. I hear the front door open and close and the person is gone._

_I open my eyes and find Katniss and Peeta still asleep. I look at the coffee table and find a note. I carefully slide out of Finn's arm and read the note:_

_I'll be at the hospital volunteering. I'm going with Rue and she's getting a ride from her brother. They are gonna bring me. Be home around 5._

_-Prim_

_My stomach growls as I put the note back on the table. I notice my outfit out of the corner of my eye. Tank top and soffee shorts. How did that even happen? I just shrug my shoulders. Whatever, at least I'm not in damp clothes. Yawning, I make a move to stand up. Fingers curl around my wrist and I jump, turning to Finnick. I didn't even know he was awake! His eyes are cloudy from sleep and one side of his mouth is tilted up in a small smile._

_"Where ya goin' babe?" He asks sitting up._

_"I'm gonna make breakfast."_

_"Whatcha gonna make?"_

_"Pancakes." I smile, standing up. Finn pops up right next to me._

_"I'll help." He walks with me to the kitchen. I search the pantry for the right ingredients. I pick up the huge flour bag and place it gently on the counter so nothing comes flying out. Finn grabs the scooper and starts scooping some flour into the big metal bowl. I open the fridge and grab the eggs from the carton. Finn and I turn at the same time, running smack into each other._

_A puff of flour settles in the air around us as the eggs break against the front of our shirts. We both take a step back and look at each other. A second passes before we both start laughing. He wipes his hand on his shirt, causing the slop of eggs to smoosh between his fingers._

_"Annie, want a hug?" He spreads his arms out, approaching me._

_"No, I'm fine." I take a small step back and sneak a handful of flour from the bag on the counter. He doesn't see me._

_"You sure?" He puts his slimy hands on my cheeks. I make a face, nodding my head. Finn moves quick and wraps his arms around me. He wipes his hands on my back as they slide down. I bring my hands up and drop the flour on his head. He releases me and shakes the flour out if my hair._

_"This means war."_

_I laugh and run around the island. I reach across and grab the bag of flour. Finn smashes an egg onto my head and I gasp as it drips. I grab a handful of flour and throw it at his face. I laugh as it coats his whole face. He flashes me a smile and raises his hands, holding two eggs. I duck behind the island before I get hit._

_Soon enough, Finnick and I are in a full fledged war, both covered head to toe in eggs and flour. We look at each other and burst out laughing. Egg yolk drips down my legs and my hair is all slimy. Finn has flour everywhere and eggshells in his hair. He's mostly in flour and I'm almost all covered in egg. Our laughter dies down but a smile stays on both of our faces. A puff of flour hits me in the face. Katniss and Peeta stand in the middle of the mess each holding a handful of flour. Peeta throws another at Finn._

_"Katniss want a hug?" I say as Finn says, "Wanna hug Peet?"_

_"Sure, Ann." Katniss runs up and gives me a hug and I spread gunk all over her while she drops the flour down the back of my tank top._

_I whisper to her while we hug. "Me and you against them?" _

_"Yeah." She whispers back._

_We separate and quickly arm ourselves with flour and eggs. We duck behind the island after I throw flour at Finn and Peeta. _

_"I'm wounded." Finn has his hand on his chest in mock pain. "We were supposed to beat them. But girls drool and boys rule."_

_"I think you said that backwards." I smile at him. He tosses an egg at me and I catch it before it hits me. Too bad it breaks in my hands. I laugh, swiping the egg off. _

_We have our war and no one wins. We are all gross and sticky._

_"We should get washed up." I say. "We have 2 showers, how are we doing this?"_

_"I go first." Katniss and Peeta say at the same time._

_"Fuck you guys." Finnick says. I laugh when he pouts. "I've been sticky longer than you guys."_

_"Too bad." Katniss sticks her tongue out. They leave the room and head upstairs. _

_Finn and I put away the eggs and flour bag. We work quickly in cleaning up the floors and counter tops. _

_"Ann?" Finn asks._

_"Yeah?" I stop sweeping up the egg shells and look over to him._

_"Wanna go to on a date with me tomarrow?"_

_"I'd like that." I smile at him and walk over to him. _

_I kiss him straight on the lips. An invisible force pulls us together so we're chest to chest. Finn's flour covered hands cup my cheeks and he presses our lips together again. My hands travel up to his head, knocking out the eggshells and my fingers thread through his bronze hair. His hands roam my body, not staying in one place for too long. My body tingles with every one of his fire touches. Our tongues meet in the middle and warmth spreads through me. His hands drift down to the back of my thighs and he picks me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and he sets me on the counter top. His hands grip my hips and he pulls my forward. I tangle my hand in his hair. That is the position Katniss and Peeta find us in when they come back down stairs._

_One of them cough, causing Finn and I to separate. He helps me off the counter and I blush. Katniss had a half smile on her face and she gives me a look practically saying "Tell me later."_

_"I..."_

_"Umm." Finnick and I fumble over our words._

_"I'm gonna, uh, go get cleaned up."_

_"Yeah, me too." Finn says right after me._

_We both walk out of the kitchen quickly. Walking up the stairs, we look at each other and smile. We part with a small kiss. heading to the separate bathrooms._

_I close the door and lean my back against it. I wonder what would have happened if Katniss and Peeta didn't interrupt us. I look at myself in the mirror. I blush finding flour handprints on my cheeks, all over my thighs and smears across my collarbones and the top of my breasts. My face turns red again seeing that I walked right passed them like this. I push the mess of my hair off my shoulders. Egg is everywhere._

Thinking about our passionate kiss in the kitchen, I get the same feeling in my stomach I have every time I'm with him. Man, this song is so awkward with my thoughts right now. I turn it off and pin back my bangs. I slip on my black flip flops as the door bell rings. "I GOT IT!" I scream. I run down the stairs and open the door for Finn. He's wearing blue jeans and a light blue button down.

"You look beautiful." He says.

"You look" I look him up and down.

"Hot. Sexy." He smiles flirtily at me. I smile back and he leans in. He presses his lips to mine. My arms find their way around his neck and his wrap around my waist.

"You guys are adorable." Katniss says walking in the room. We break apart at the sound of her voice. "Go on your date."

"Okay, bye." I give her a hug goodbye. Finn does the same saying, "Hi and bye Kat."

As I shut the door I ask, "Where are we going?"

"You're gonna just have to wait and see."

"Am I at least dressed alright?" I look down at what I'm wearing.

His eyes rake up and down my body and he says, "Yes, you're perfect."

"Thanks." I say, ducking my head. He gently grabs my chin and tilts my face up to his. We both lean in at the same time and our lips touch in a sweet kiss.

"Go on your date already!" Katniss calls from our window, 3 stories up.

We laugh and break apart. Finn grabs my hand and I link our fingers together. He leads me towards his car and opens the door for me.

"My lady." He says in a weird accent.

"Thank you kind sir." I say in an accent that's meant to be British. I can't do a British accent.

"You're very welcome." He says in the same voice. I laugh getting in the car. I push my hair off my shoulders so it rests on my back. Finn puts the keys in ignition and starts the car.

We pull in the parking lot to the local movie theater. We get out of the car and I link our hands together, swaying them slightly, as we walk in the building.

"What movie are we gonna watch?" I ask.

"Whatever you want to watch."

"Okay." We get in line and look at the movies that are getting shown tonight. "Now you see me, Iron man 3, and Fast 6 look good."

"Wanna see Fast 6?" He asks.

"Yeah." We buy our tickets, more like Finn buys our tickets. He wouldn't let me pay. I put my money back in my iPhone case as we walk in the theater. We find a seat in the back.

Once we get settled in the last row, I push up the arm rest between us. I curl into his side and he throws his arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer. I lean my head on his shoulder. Finn watches the beginning of the movie as I get distracted by the shapes he is tracing on my arm. I rest my eyes at the soothing motion. My eyes snap open when the traces are on my upper leg. Loops are made over my skin until his fingers reach the inside of my thigh. Letters are written lightly and I concentrate on the little tracings. I'm yours is written over and over again. Warmth spreads through my body and gathers in my chest when his message clicks in my mind.

I take his other hand and trace into his palm. And I'm yours. You're mine is now written higher on the inside of my thigh, making me shiver. He presses his lips to the top of my head and I turn to face him. He has a grin on his face and his eyes are clouded by a hunger that I can't describe. He leans in, bringing our lips together. He tangles one hand in my hair and the other cups my jaw, his thumb drawing little circles on my cheek. I knot my hands in his hair. His tongue traces my lips and I grant him access. When our tongues meet in the middle, the movie noises fades away. All my senses are consumed by Finn.

I turn my body, making it easier to kiss him. I move closer and wrap my arms around his neck. His slide down to my waist and pulls me closer. His hands trail down my back and slip into my back pockets. I let out a little gasp as he brings our hips together so I'm sitting on his lap. He smiles through the kiss. I suck his bottom lip into my mouth and he lets out a quiet noise. An explosion in the movie makes us jump apart. We both smile and move back to the same positions we were in the beginning of the movie. His arm goes back around my shoulders as we watch the rest of the movie.

On the ride home, Finn's hand is dangerously close to the juncture of my thighs. His fingers brush against my inner thigh, staying away from the place I want him to touch me. My stomach clenches in anticipation. He gives me goose bumps and I shiver at his ministrations. Finn pulls into the drive way of his apartment and turns off the engine. He smiles at me, removing his hand and I miss the feeling immediately. I lean across the arm rest and press my lips to his.

My tongue explores his mouth as my hands run up and down his body. He moans when I trace the zipper on his jeans lightly. "Annie." He pants. I smile and pull away, leaving him as aroused as he left me. I jump out of the car and walk slowly to his apartment front steps, waiting for him to catch up with me. I hear the car door slam shut and I smile to myself.

Finn wraps his arms around me to get to the door, and I feel his arousal on my back. I push my ass into him and move my hips. He groans in his mouth and I let out a small appreciative noise at his groan. Once the door opens after Finn struggles with the keys, we stumble inside. The door clicks in place and my back is against it with Finn attacking my lips. His hands hold mine together above my head as his lips drop to my neck. He suckles on the skin, moving down to kiss across my collarbone and kisses his way back up. Finn licks the shell of my ear and nips at my earlobe. I take a sharp intake of breath when he kisses, nips, and licks the spot right under my jaw on the side of my neck. He keeps his focus there as his hands let go of mine, skimming down my sides. I hook my fingers through his belt loops and pull him flush against me. I bring his face up to kiss me on the lips. Our foreheads press together as we catch our breath.

I move us so his back is against the wall and I press my lips against his again. He kisses me back, tracing my lips with his tongue. I open my mouth and eagerly let him enter. Something in the bottom of my stomach stirs and I feel myself getting warm. My body is on fire and Finn's touches only make the amazing burn spread.

Finnick moves his mouth to behind my ear and I let out a loud moan of pleasure. I feel him smile at my reaction and continues to suck and nip at that amazing spot behind my ear. God, he's gonna make me combust right here. He starts to grind into me, and the friction feels so good I whimper and start doing the same. He switches us around to the position we were in before and grinds even harder into me. I can feel liquid form in between my legs. I grip his shirt in my hands, pulling us closer as Finnick brings his lips back up to mine. Our tongues meet and all I feel is him. I suck his bottom lip into my mouth and I lightly bite it. He goes to pull away but I hold it tightly. Finn leans back in and I let go. He shoves his tongue deep in my mouth as his left hand rubs the crotch of my shorts. I moan loudly into his mouth and my back arches off the wall. His right hand travels up from its spot on my hip and cups my left breast. I let out a little squeak as he massages my breast in his hand. He does it again and puts more presser on his index and middle finger, moving them in circles. My head drops to the wall and I moan his name. "Finn."

He leans back in and kisses my neck as he slides his hands up the hem of my tank top, bringing it up as his hands creep up my torso. He kisses down my neck and licks my clavicle. He smiles against my chest when my breath gets caught in my throat. Finn licks and kisses across the top of my breasts as his hands slide down my body. He squeezes and massages my ass before his hands find the back of my thighs. He lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist and hold onto his shoulders. The middle of our bodies are level now and he pushes his hardness against me, only a few layers separating us. I moan at the feeling of him in between my legs. I feel his cock twitch against me as I pull him even closer so our chests are flush. We continue to kiss and I swivel my hips against his, grinding into his hardness. He moans when I start squirm between him and the wall. The pleasure he's giving my me makes the coil in my stomach tighten.

"Wait, Finn, I have to say something." I breathe out. He nods his head, putting me down and taking a step back.

I wait until I catch my breath and calm down a bit before I reach over and caress his cheek. I relish the heat that his body radiates. "I think I love you..." And although I'm still trying to figure out my feelings, I know that I want to love him. He is it for me. He is my ocean. My safe haven from this awful world. I can be free with him. He makes me forget about all the shit that is my past.

"Oh Annie... I think I love you too." He leans down for a kiss and I meet him halfway. I want him. I need him. It's the same stir in my stomach that I always get when I'm with him. Desire, lust, want. It's all the pent up feeling coming out now.

The kiss deepens and I trace my tounge along his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He gladly agrees and our tounges battle for dominance.

My hands reach for his button up shirt and quickly send that unnecessary piece of clothing to the floor. My hands eagerly roam his muscular chest, loving the way he reacts to my touches. He picks me up and I hook my legs behind his backside. Finn turns and I feel my back crash against the wall.

He thrusts and I moan at the wonderful friction down south. My nails dig into his unruly bronze hair and I try to get my grip on reality again.

Moaning into my mouth, Finn crashes us into his bed and roughly pulls my shirt over my head. He places hot, wet kisses down my neck, coming to the valley between my breasts. Finn looks up, as if asking permission, and I just give one nod, not being able to find my voice. He reaches behind me and unclasps my bra, exposing myself to him.

I begin to cover myself with my arms, feeling self conscious, when Finn stops me.

"Dont. Your perfect."

I can only nod and then he attacks my breasts. Nipping, sucking and licking at my taunt nipples. A gurttled moan escapes from my mouth as he kneeds my left while he attacks the right. He soon switches and I feel lust over taking me. I pull him back up and push our lips together. His muscles flex as he holds himself up on top of me. I wrap my leg around his backside, keeping us close together. One hand is on his cheek and the other is on his shoulder. I moan when he thrusts against me. Our chests are flush and I feel his muscles flexing with every move he makes. I tangle my fingers in his hair. Finn kisses down my neck and nips at the skin there. My breath gets caught in my throat. He starts to travel down my stomach and licks my navel.

"These have to go." He says refering to my jean shorts. I whimper and nod yes. He gets them off in a matter of seconds and starts to lick and lightly bite the inside of my thighs. When he licks my soaking underwear, I scream out, arching my back off the bed and beg for him to take them off. He follows promptly and I am completely exposed to him. I am at my most vulnerable and yet, I feel alright.

Finnick whispers "You're so wet baby."

He licks me and I almost fall over the edge at the feeling. He sticks a finger in me, then two. His thumb plays with my clit, sending me into cloud 9. His fingers pump in and out of me, and my hips meet his thrusts, settling into a rhythm. I tangle my hands into his hair as his tongue circles my clit. I whimper at the feeling and he adds more presser. He takes the bundle of nerves into his mouth and I cry out. I pull in his hair and hold his head in place. His tongue explores my folds as his fingers pump in and out of me. With one last thrust I scream his name and fall over the edge. My body shakes, riding out my orgasm.

"Now it's my turn.." I purr and crawl over to him. My teeth open up the fly of his jeans and shimmy them down to his ankles, where he kicks them off.

I try to remember what Katniss told me about a blowjob. I wrap both my hands around his shaft and stroke. My thumb rolls over his tip and I feel his precum. I lean over and take him in fully, reaching to the back of my throat. My tongue licks his tip and I begin to suck. He shivers and squirms, knotting his hands in my hair and thrusting my head. I move in and out slowly at first and then faster and faster. My right hand also helps and only moments later, he cums and spills into my mouth. I swallow, not sure what else to do, and take him out of my mouth. Finn curls his finger indicating for me to come up. He kisses me hard and lays me down.

"Ready?" He asks, climbing on top of me.

"Yes."

He lines himself up with my entrance and with a slow motion, he slides inside me. It takes some time to adjust to his size. He thrusts, hard. And I cry out in ecstasy. I feel complete and whole.

With quick thrusts he hits spots that I never knew were there. It feels so god damn good. He goes harder and faster and we both climb over the edge, free falling and riding out our orgasms.

"Holy. Shit." We say in unison. He pulls out of me and lays on his back. He catches his breath and gets up. I rub my eyes tiredly.

I press my lips to his softly. "Night Finn." I turn back over and he cuddles up behind me. He wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me into him and my ass settles into the dip of his pelvis. I shut my eyes, laying my head on his other arm. I lay there awake for a while. I can't fall asleep. I feel like I'm forgetting something. My breath catches in my throat and I hope Finn's sleeping so he doesn't hear me. I hold my breath waiting for him to move. He just pushes his face into my neck and I hear his deep, steady breathing. I let out a breath of relief but my eyes pop open, remembering what we forgot. Condom. We forgot one. Thank god I'm on the pill, right? I took it today right? I think back to the morning. I seriously can't remember. I take a deep breath, I need to calm down. I will ask Katniss tomorrow. I close my eyes and soon I fall asleep. I sleep the whole night with no nightmares.


End file.
